China, India can look beyond differences for mutual benefits

Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday for a state visit to India, one of China's most important neighbors. [Special coverage]

As the world's two largest developing countries, both China and India have long recognized the strategic importance of their bilateral ties and have made great efforts to ensure their overall cooperation would not be derailed by the long-existing border disputes.

The past year witnessed the most frequent high-level exchanges between Beijing and New Delhi in nearly 60 years. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited India in May 2013, the first leg of Li's maiden overseas trip since taking office, a testimony of China's intention to enhance ties with India.

It is a shared recognition that mutual benefits and common development can only be achieved through trust building, rather than rivalry.

Apart from their closer political relations, China and India, as the world's two largest emerging economies, also share strong economic ties.

China is India's largest trading partner, while India is China's biggest in South Asia, with the two-way trade reaching 65.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2013.

Hailed as the world's factory and global service provider respectively, China and India enjoy great economic potential for cooperation in investment, financial services and high technologies.

Both being members of the BRICS, China and India can cooperate and coordinate closely within regional frameworks to accelerate economic development and improve the lives of their people.

The development of China and India are each other's opportunity and peaceful, cooperative and inclusive development will not only benefit the two peoples but also Asia and the world at large.

On the world stage, China and India are natural partners in setting global rules on climate change, reshaping global economic landscape and securing more rights for developing countries.

Joint efforts have been made by the two countries under multilateral frameworks, including the Group of 20, BRICS and the Doha round of global trade talks, to push for a fair and just world order.

On cultural exchanges, being ancient civilizations at similar development stages, China and India have strengthened people-to-people exchanges in recent years.

As the world's most populous nations, which account for nearly 40 percent of the global population, Beijing and New Delhi are both pursuing the great dream of national renewal, dreams that are interconnected and mutually compatible.

To ensure a peaceful environment for more than 2.5 billion people combined, China and India should strive for an early and peaceful resolution to the border disputes.

It serves the interests of both sides, the whole Asia and the world at large that China and India can put aside their differences and make sure such thorny issues do not damage their overall friendly ties or derail their promising cooperation.