China, India reopen border trade
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-06 05:56
Sun Shihai, deputy director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China and India have showed growing
mutual trust by "turning a battlefield into a market."
"Reopening the pass will help promote closer economic and personnel exchanges
along the border," he told China Daily.
"What's more important, it will also help push forward Sino-Indian political
relations and contribute to regional stability and security."
The researcher added that China and India, two of the fastest-growing
economies, enjoy bright prospects for economic and trade co-operation.
China is India's second largest trade partner only after the United States.
Bilateral trade shot up to US$18.7 billion in 2005 from US$1.16 billion in 1995,
with a surplus of US$833 million for India.
Trade in 2006 is predicted to surpass the 2008 target of US$20 billion set by
the two governments.
|
