China and India are gearing up to restart border trade Thursday through Tibet's Nathu La Pass, a historic trading route that has been closed for 44 years.

The Nathu La Pass, sitting 4,545 meters above sea level, was once a pivotal point on the ancient Silk Road. Its name in Tibetan translates into "a place of heaviest snowstorm".

Located some 460 kilometers from Tibet's regional capital Lhasa and 550 kilometers from the Indian coastal city of Calcutta, the pass was an important trade passage between China and India but was closed in 1962 amid border conflicts.

The pass bathed in glory Thursday as officials and businesspeople from both sides of the borderline gathered and waited for the historic moment.

Gone is the wire netting that separated the two neighbors for the past 44 years and in its place is a 10-meter wide, stone walled passageway waiting for merchants to go through.

A red banner has been put up on the Chinese side of the borderline, with Chinese characters reading "Warmest congratulations to the reopening of Sino-Indian Nathu La Pass border trade route".

On the Indian side is a yellow banner reading "Welcome to Nathu La".

In line with minutes of negotiations signed between Chinese and Indian officials in Lhasa last month, the two countries will reopen the trade route Thursday with two border trade markets -- the Renqinggang market in Tibet and Changgu mart in India's state of Sikkim.

Renqinggang market is 16 kilometers northeast of the Nathu La Pass. It will open from Monday through Thursday between June 1 and Sept. 30 every year and the business hours will last from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., said officials in Yadong county of Xigaze Prefecture, where the market is located.

Basang is excited at the reopening of border trade close to his home in Yadong county. He was 18 when the historic trade route was closed amid border conflicts in 1962.

"The mountain roads at the Nathu La Pass were narrow and Chinese and Indian merchants had to carry their goods on mules," recalled Basang, now 62. "The Indians used to carry rice and fruits to Yadong, which they swapped for potatoes and wool."

Basang did some barter trade himself in those days and after the border mart was closed, he was employed at the local government.

Today with a handsome pension and two sons working, Basang said he does not plan to restart business himself. "But the move will certainly benefit the local economy," he said.

Yadong, a county with 12,100 people in Xigaze Prefecture, sits 3,000 meters above sea level and its name in Tibetan means "the deep valley of a racing river".

The county posted 45 million yuan (5,625 million U.S. dollars) of border trade in 2005, up 88 percent year-on-year.

The reopening of the Nathu La Pass is expected to give a major boost to bilateral trade between the world's two most populous nations, which totaled 18.7 billion U.S. dollars last year and is expected to top 20 billion U.S. dollars this year.

"The reopening of border trade will help end economic isolation in this area and play a key role in boosting market economy there, " said Hao Peng, vice chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region.

The move is also conducive to improving relations between the two countries, said Dr. Christy Fernandez, additional secretary of the Indian Department of Commerce.

With the reopening of the historic trade route and Saturday's launching of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, experts say the two countries will be able to revive the ancient Silk Road by shipping goods from China's inland areas to India and other parts of south Asia via Tibet.

"The reopening of border trade will help end economic isolation in this area and play a key role in boosting market economy there, " said Hao Peng, vice chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region.

The move is also conducive to improving relations between the two countries, said Dr. Christy Fernandez, additional secretary of the Indian Department of Commerce.

Rinzin Qoizhoin, 50, is planning for an inspection tour to Changgu mart in Sikkim. "I want to have a look to see what commodities sell well, so that I can build up my stock," she told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

By starting up trade in Sikkim, she said she's hoping to follow her father, a Tibetan national born in southwest China's Yunnan Province who was a member of the caravan that traveled along the ancient Cha Ma Road, or the Tea Horse Road linking the arid plains of Tibet with mountain valley communities of Yunnan.

"He was a merchant along the route in his younger days and settled down in Tibet," said Rinzin Qoizhoin.

Source: Xinhua