Business circles in India and China have received the right signals from the visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and are moving towards expanding trade and investment as ties between the two sides deepen.

Anand G. Mahindra, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the largest such organization in India, said meetings between the two countries' leaders have given direction to business circles and increased confidence in their respective markets.

He believes the right climate created by the visit can promote bilateral trade between India and China to the US$10 billion mark by next year, 12 months ahead of the 2005 target proposed by the Chinese Government.

This prediction is based on the surging figures recorded for the first four months of 2003.

The latest Chinese statistics put bilateral trade between the two neighbours for the period at US$2.3 billion, a soaring 71 per cent increase over the same period last year.

India is China's largest trading partner in South Asia, and their bilateral trade reached a record US$4.9 billion in 2002, up 37 per cent on the previous year.

"As two fast growing countries, we believe we can complement each other and can work together to be strong economic forces in the world,'' said Mahindra.

Jonathan Choi, president of the Hong Kong-based Sun Wah Group, said Vajpayee's visit had delivered a message of friendship and increased the desire of domestic firms to work with Indian partners.

Choi said the company had been in talks with some Indian software companies to develop and produce software in China.

Business leaders from 100 of the biggest Indian companies, including the software developer Infosys Technologies Ltd, the tractor maker Mahindra Mahindra Ltd, the drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and Grasim Industries Ltd, India's No 1 cement maker, are accompanying Vajpayee on his visit to China.

Piyush Bahl, head of CII's East Asia office, which will open soon in Shanghai, said a series of activities will be staged this year to promote economic co-operation between India and China.

The first ever Made-in-India Show will be held in Beijing during October 16-19.

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