BEIJING, April 17 -- The shrinkage in investment between China and the European Union (EU) in the first quarter of 2014 is temporary rather than a trend, and the prospects for their economic cooperation are bright, said a Ministry of Commerce spokesman on Thursday.

Shen Danyang made the remarks at a news briefing, adding that China attaches great importance to China-EU economic cooperation.

In the first three months of 2014, 28 countries in the EU invested a total of 1.55 billion U.S. dollars in China, with that amount plummeting by 24.52 percent year on year. China's investment in the EU also declined by 7 percent.

To better facilitate economic cooperation, China and the EU are negotiating on an investment agreement, and two rounds of the negotiation have been completed so far.

"China believes that the agreement will create a better investment environment for both sides and inject new vigor into mutual investment," said Shen.

China will closely coordinate with the EU and actively deal with trade frictions, he added.

China is the EU's second-largest trading partner and the EU is China's top trading partner.