Indo-China trade to touch $60-bn by end-2010: Official

Bilateral trade between India and China is expected to touch the $60-billion mark by end-this year, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.

Bilateral trade between India and China is expected to touch the $60-billion mark by end-this year, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.

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"We expect our bilateral (India and China) trade to touch the $60-billion mark by December this year," Chinese Consul General, Wang Donghua, told PTI in Mumbai on the sidelines of an exhibition on retail products here.

The Chinese diplomat said there was a decline in trade volume because of the global meltdown but it is expected to rise again with the recovery now in progress.

"Trade had come down because of the downturn in the global economy. In 2008, our bilateral trade stood at $51.47-billion. But it declined to $43.3-billion in 2009. We now expect it to rise to $60-billion this year," Donghua said.

The Chinese Consul General also said that trade between India and China would not be affected despite certain disputes between the two countries.

"There could be some disputes between the two countries (India and China), but I am optimistic that it would not affect trade relations between us," Donghua said.