NEW DELHI, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The trend of economic and trade cooperation between China and India is to "develop together, succeed together", Wen Shugang, CEO and President of the Dongfang Electric Corporation Ltd., told a conference of Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs and strategists here Tuesday.

More than 50 entrepreneurs from China's Sichuan Province were interacting with Indian businessmen and strategists, with the participation by a leading Indian business group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) - in a fully packed conference hall of the ITC Mauriya Hotel.

This is part of the week- long "Experience China - Sichuan Week in India" friendly exchange activities organized by the Chinese government and some Indian partners in the Indian capital.

Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs, officials and strategists agreed at the seminar that there is huge potential for the two countries to develop economic and trade ties.

Atal Shunglu, Assistant Secretary of FICCI, said that over the past several years, India and China are on the fore front of world economic development, while bilateral trade also became a success story, with trade volume rising from 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in 1998 to 42.6 billion U.S. dollars about 10 years afterwards.

He hailed the start of shifting by some Chinese companies from China to India and said the quality of Chinese infrastructure projects is among the best in the world and are warmly welcomed by Indians.

China- India trade relations started from at least two thousand years ago, with the establishment of the "South Silk Road," also known as the "Ancient Road of Tea and Horse."

Suchismita Palai, an official from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said she learned from her childhood that there was trade of bamboo and textile between India and China 400 years BC. She said she is glad Indian entrepreneurs have the chance to hear from their Chinese friends about new inputs and ideas of bilateral trade cooperation to seek a more balanced trade relationship, as China is enjoying huge surplus in its trade with India.

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan agreed with Palai, saying that the recent BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit held in Sanya, China, has given a new momentum to cooperation between China and India, which he said is witnessing the best period in history.

"I am of the view that, Sichuan and India still have great potential for cooperation. India has expertise in software, financial service, pharmaceutical, while Sichuan excels in agriculture, machinery manufacture, electronics and food processing," Zhang said.

This was also echoed by Major General Ramesh C. Chopra, senior strategic and corporate advisor. "Let's think more about cooperation, less problem," he said.

He told Xinhua that he was glad the seminar was held at this time in New Delhi, as people in India are aware that Sichuan has such huge agriculture, agro-processing industry and power generation industry.

"India is hungry for power. Dongfang Electric Corporation is operating in five Indian states Kerala, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh, this is good," he said.

Anju Talwar, senior vice president of Genpact outsourcing corporation which has four branches in China, said she believed the seminar will increase the awareness of Indians about Chinese economic opportunities.

She said that since 2000, her company, which is based in the booming satellite city of Gurgaon outside Delhi and listed in New York Stock Exchange, has been operating in China, first in Dalian, and then in Changchun, Chengdu and Kunshan of Jiangsu Province, where it employs some 3,000 workers. Now the China section is dealing a lot of business with Japan, Republic of Korea and China's Taiwan.

Some Indian attendants also suggest that China upgrade its products exported to India.

B.K. executive member of the ITUAPT Foundation of India which is dedicated to telecom research, said most Indians only know about products from China through purchasing small items and daily necessities, rather than hi-tech products which China is able to make.

"So it is necessary to change the perception about Chinese products for Indian buyers through promoting good quality products to be sold in India," said Mitra.