China and India have witnessed the growth of robust two-way trade in recent years, with the total volume increasing from US$1.16 billion in 1995 to US$18.7 billion in 2005, creating an average annual growth rate of 32 percent.

Currently, India is China's third largest trading partner and India is China's eleventh. China mainly exports mechanical, electrical and chemical products, as well as textiles, plastic, rubber, china and glass to India. It imports iron ore, chromium ore, precious stones, noble metals, vegetable oil and textile products.

In the past, over 90 percent of Sino-Indian was transported by ship, and most of the trade from Tibet was handled in the Tianjin port. However, there is 4,400 km between Tianjin and India, and the inconvenience helped to form the China¨CSouth Asia Continental Passage.

In recent years, mutual investment has also experienced huge growth. By the end of 2005, China had poured a total investment of US$473.5 million dollars into India, and India had funded 196 projects in China, with the contracted volume reaching US$421 million and actual investment volume reaching US$122 million.

Personnel exchanges between the two Asian giants have also made steady progress.