Beijing: In a bid to move economic cooperation to "greater heights", India and China have decided to set up a Joint Study Group of economists and officials to identify new areas and draw up a comprehensive plan for further development of a multi-faceted economic interaction.

"Our two governments have decided to make concerted efforts to move our economic cooperation to greater heights", Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in a keynote address at a seminar on 'China- India Economic Co-operation and Development'.

He said during his meeting with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on June 23 it was decided "we should form a Joint Study Group of economists and officials from our two countries to review existing cooperation, to identify new areas of promise and to draw up a comprehensive perspective plan for the further development of a multi-faceted interaction."

The Prime Minister on the third day of his six-day official visit to China asked business and industry of both the country to provide "meaningful inputs" for this initiative.

He said for rapid expansion of economic interactions between the two countries it was very important to strengthen passenger and cargo transportation links, banking support structures and trade facilitation majors.

"While governments on both sides can work to address these infrastructural problems, it is for private business and industry to optimise their utilisation", Vajpayee said.

PTI