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China-India should collaborate
not compete: Zhu Rongji

China and India should complement and collaborate with each other rather than compete against one another and treble the bilateral trade to $ 10 billion, Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji said on Wednesday.

"We have our respective advantages and we should see that bilateral trade is trebled from the present $ 3 billion to $ 10 billion," the Chinese premier said addressing leading businessmen and counsular corps in Mumbai.

India and China can play a major role if "we join hands for peace and economic prosperity in the region," he added.

On his visit to India, Zhu said his "talks with Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, have been fruitful and we have reached a consensus on expansion of bilateral relations in various fields."

The Chinese premier said like India was strong in IT software, his country was strong in hardware. "We can set up joint ventures in India, where labour is cheap, and make available IT products at a cheaper cost."

He said after introducing reforms in China, foreign direct investment, which was around $ 30-40 billion annually, had jumped last year to a record high of $ 46.8 billion.

PTI

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