BEIJING -- China will kick off negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel this year, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

Israel is China's major economic and trade partner in the Middle East and along the route of China-proposed "belt and road" initiative, the ministry's spokesman Shen Danyang said at a press conference.

The two sides have completed a feasibility study of the FTA "with a positive outlook," he said, adding it will lift bilateral cooperation to a new height.

Bilateral trade has increased notably since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. China is now Israel's third largest trade partner and the largest in Asia.