India-China bilateral trade is set to establish a new record this year by crossing the $10 billion mark and this figure could even touch $20 billion by the end of 2010, Indian Ambassador to China, Nalin Surie, said here on Wednesday.
Noting that the bilateral trade has already touched $3.1 billion during the first quarter (January-March) of 2004, Surie expressed confidence that the total trade during the year could easily exceed $10 billion by the end of this year, setting a new record.
In 2003, India-China bilateral trade touched a record $7.6 billion.
"In my personal view, India and China could easily aim to achieve bilateral trade of $20 billion by the end of 2010," Surie said here in his inaugural address at the 'India Day' seminar on 'Business opportunities for global co-operation'.
India and China are competitors but there are also significant complementarities, he said.
"We therefore regard China as a business partner, not as a competitor. It is not India or China. It is India and China," he said, while addressing the seminar, organised by Chemtech Foundation as part of the ongoing 'Achemasia 2004', a major exhibition of chemical and process engineering.
"We have adopted a forward-looking approach in building a mutually rewarding economic relationship (with China)," Surie said, while pointing out that the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last June has imparted a new dynamic thrust to the entire gamut of India-China relationship.