China called for stronger business with India

China on Tuesday called for stronger trade and investment ties with India, stressing the world's two most populous nations were friends and not enemies. "The scale and level of bilateral trade is far from enough given the size of our two economies," Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming told a news conference after meeting his visiting Indian counterpart Anand Sharma. "There is great potential and room for growth in investment between the two nations." Trade between China and India reached 43.4 billion dollars in 2009 , down from 51.8 billion dollars in 2008 , accounting for about two percent of China's total global trade, official figures show. Earlier, Chen told a forum on China and India trade and investment cooperation that the Asian neighbours should "eliminate misunderstandings and bias" and work towards a more balanced trade relationship. "China and India are friendly neighbours and cooperative partners. We are not rivals nor enemies," Chen said. "The world has enough room for cooperation between us in our pursuit for development."