Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday called for further promotion of bilateral cooperation and trade links with India.

Wen, who arrived in India's capital city earlier Wednesday for a three-day official visit at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, stressed that China and India are cooperative partners instead of rivals.

"There is enough room in the world for China and India to develop both countries and cooperate with each other," Wen said during a speech before a bilateral business cooperation forum that attracted about 600 business elites from both countries.

Hailing the sound momentum of bilateral ties, Wen said that economic and trade cooperation between China and India has witnessed unprecedented progress in recent years. He said the cooperation has entered a most vigorous and fruitful "new period."

"The rapid economic growth of both sides served as important engines for world economic growth," Wen said, adding China-India trade cooperation is mutually beneficial and foresees a bright future.

In 2009, two-way trade between China and India reached $43.381 billion.

"Our trade volume has increased by 20 times in the past 10 years, and our mutual investment has brought rich benefits to both sides," Wen said.

Regarding India as one of China's largest overseas engineering contract markets, Wen said the two countries enjoy broad market space, and should open markets for each other to give a strong boost to economic growth.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2010)