Beijing and Tokyo should work together to get their economic and trade ties back on track because the latest economic figures reflect sluggishness amid unresolved tensions, a former Chinese senior commerce official said on Tuesday.

The Sino-Japanese relationship is now at a crossroads, said Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the China International Economic and Exchange Center. Wei was speaking at a preliminary consultation meeting for the Ninth Beijing-Tokyo Forum, to be held in August.

Bilateral trade in January and February was $44.99 billion, a year-on-year decline of 8.2 percent, he said. China's exports to Japan were $22.71 billion, with a slight growth of 0.2 percent. But its imports from Japan were $22.28 billion, showing a sharp decline of 15.5 percent, said Wei, a former vice-minister of commerce.