Wen Jiabao's visit to India aims to build mutual trust: China

China today said Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India this week will be a "big event" in Sino-India relations and aims to build mutual trust and expand bilateral trade.

China view the three-day visit of Wen to New Delhi will be "big event in India-China relations", Hu Zhengyue, China's assistant foreign minister told a special media briefing on the premier's visit to India and Pakistan.

Heading the biggest ever delegation of 400 businessmen, Wen would be arriving in New Delhi on a three-day visit on December 15.

During Wen's visit to India, China hopes to "strengthen the high level contacts to enhance strategic mutual trust and build consensus", Hu said.

"Economically we hope to expand bilateral trade, intensify mutual investment and enhance cooperation in infrastructure, construction  and other fields. China hopes to intensify people-to-people contacts, hope to share each other's experiences of development so that we can compliment with each other's strengths," he said.

The booming bilateral trade which is on course to touch $60 billion has already crossed $49.84 billion this October with Indian exports amounting to $17 billion, while China continue to dominate with $32.87 billion worth of exports.

On the cultural front, Hu said, China hopes to intensify people-to people-exchanges, "enhance mutual understanding to gain more popular support for our relations to maintain positive cooperation for peace".

"On the international and regional affairs we hope to intensify communication and coordination and make positive contribution to the maintenance of peace and stability in the world and promote common development," he said.

Wen, 68, would also visit Pakistan on the three-day visit starting from December 17.

During his visit to India, Wen will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and have meetings with President Pratibha Patil and the chairperson of the UPA Sonia Gandhi and other Indian leaders, Hu said.

Wen will attend a series of events to mark friendly exchanges to celebrate the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He will also deliver an "important policy speech" on China-India relations, Hu said.

"China and India are each other's important neighbours, emerging economies and major developing countries. Their relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships of the two countries. Leaders of both the countries have agreed that there is enough space in the world for China and India to develop together and enough areas for them to cooperate with each other," Hu said.

Friendship and cooperation between the two countries not only benefited them and its people but also contributed to the peace, stability and prosperity of Asia and beyond, he added.

In recent years with the consistent efforts of both sides, China-India relations have maintained momentum and healthy and stable development.

While Wen's visit in 2005 to India established a strategic and cooperate partnership for peace and prosperity, the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to New Delhi in 2006 resulted in two sides formulating a 10-pronged strategy for deepening strategic cooperative partnership, he said.

During Singh's visit to Beijing in 2008, the two sides worked out a shared vision and their relations in 21st century, he said.

The visits were followed by Patil's trip to China this year besides the visit of one of senior Chinese Communist Party leaders, Zhou Yongkang to New Delhi during which he met number of Indian leaders.

Both Wen and Hu had 10 separate meetings each with Singh during different multilateral forums while the two countries held the 14 rounds of boundary talks "successfully", he said.