New Delhi: Buoyed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's successful visit, India and China have decided to further step up bilateral trade and increase co-operation to safeguard the interests of developing nations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

These decisions were taken during a meeting between Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley and his Chinese counterpart Lu Fuyan, official sources said.

The two sides also decided to hold the next round of the Joint Economic Group meeting in November- December.

Jaitley, on his return, said, "China has triggered several unexplored areas of co-operation. Also the government had already announced the different agreements the PM entered into. But one significant headway that we made is in the area of India and China co-ordinating its strategies in relation to the World Trade Orgnaisation. "

Jaitley said he had a discussion with Lu on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in public health care area as well as agricultural negotiations and investment-related issues.

The minister, considered an expert on WTO issues, said India and China, the fastest developing countries as well as the world's most populated nations, had many commonalities and should stand together in protecting the interests of developing nations at multilateral forums like the WTO.

"We have decided to explore how to co-operate with China at the WTO," Jaitley said, adding that the two countries had agreed to inform their Ambassadors in the WTO in Geneva so that they could have consultations and adopt a common stand on major issues affecting developing nations ahead of a major WTO session in September.

"I hope the voice of India and China, which together constitute one-third of the world's population, should have a say in the affairs of global trade," Jaitley said.

"India and China have a lot of common interests. We believe that subsidies by the developed world in agriculture must be eliminated because they have a distorting effect on the market," he added.

ANI