Beijing: With bilateral trade set to touch a record $ 10 billion this year, India and China reviewed the current state of trade relations and discussed ways to sustain the rapid growth witnessed in recent years, official sources said today (March 11, 2004).

The two sides reviewed the current trends in bilateral trade ties and discussed ways and means to sustaining the ongoing rapid growth of such trade when Indian Ambassador Nalin Surie called on the new Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai yesterday, the sources said.

Both sides agreed that the bilateral trade relationship between India and China was "very promising" and this is the right time to push forward, the sources said.

Bo and Surie discussed the forthcoming first meeting of the Joint Study Group established during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to China in June last year.

"Both sides attach importance to the work of this group whose mandate is clearly stipulated in the declaration issued by the two Prime Ministers in June 2003," the Indian Embassy said in a press release.

The Joint Study Group will examine the potential complementarities and also draw up a programme for the development of bilateral trade and economic co-operation for the next five years, it said.

It noted that the two sides also exchanged views on the need to hold the next meeting of the Ministerial level Joint Economic Group at an early date.

"Dates for this would be fixed through diplomatic channels," the release said.

Surie expressed interest in the entry of Indian agricultural and processed food products into the Chinese market and also spoke of the opportunities available in the dairy, health and other sectors.

Co-operation on matters of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was also discussed during the meeting.

"China would enhance communication with India and other sides within the framework of the WTO," Bo was quoted as telling Surie by official Xinhua news agency.

During Vajpaye's visit, it was agreed that India and China would enhance co-operation at the WTO.

India-China bilateral trade volume surged from $ 5 billion in 2002 to $ 7.5 billion last year.

Bo predicted that Sino-India trade could hit $ 10 billion this year.

Bo, former Governor of Northeast China's Liaoning province and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was appointed by the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, as Minister of Commerce late last month.

The Indian Ambassador used the first meeting with Bo to congratulate him on his new appointment and conveyed the greetings of Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley, the Indian Embassy release added.