India and China launched Tuesday in New Delhi a major push to better trade ties by banking on prosperous economies of the two nations.

Trade volume between the two nations is bound to increase rapidly over the next few years, the Indo-Asian News Service quoted Shao Qiwei, leader of a 100-member Chinese delegation visiting India for the one-day India-China Business Conclave, as saying.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to developing trade and economic cooperation with India, Shao Qiwei told the inaugural session of the conclave, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Shao Qiwei, who is vice-governor of Yunnan province of China, said the Indian government had also started rendering strong support to bilateral cooperation between India and China.

E. V. K. S. Elangovan, Indian minister of state for commerce and industry, said there was great potential for India and China to work together in a wide spectrum of industrial sectors.

While considerable improvement has been made in Indo-China trade, yet there exists great scope for touching new heights, he said.

In recent years, frequent exchanges of high-level visits between China and India have enhanced the friendship between the two countries and promoted bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Notably, trade volume between India and China stood at a meager 260 million US dollars in 1990. The trade volume grew to 7.6 billion US dollars in 2003.

In the first five months of this year, bilateral trade between the two countries reached 5.45 billion US dollars and is expected to cross the target of 10 billion dollars by the end of 2004.