BERLIN, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- China and Germany have signed an agreement to strengthen bilateral cooperation in statistics gathering and analysis.

The agreement, which covers related programs in the coming three years, was signed by Ning Jizhe, commissioner of National Bureau of Statistics of China, and his German counterpart Dieter Sarreither during Ning's visit on Nov. 18-19.

Ning is also vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China.

During his meeting with Sarreither, Ning said cooperation on statistics between China and Germany has been fruitful thanks to high-level mutual trust and the complementary nature of such cooperation.

Ning and Sarreither exchanged views on how to deepen cooperation in areas such as statistics systems, strategic planning, employment statistics and trainings on international statistics.

Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation on statistics collection in building industry and pricing approaches on real estate.