KUNMING, June 7(Xinhuanet)-- The Sino-Indian trade has been growing fast and the total volume is expected to hit 18 billion US dollars this year, said an official with the China Council for Promotion of International Trade(CCPIT).

The two countries should give full play to the role of commercial associations in respective countries, build a cooperative mechanism and solve trade disputes through negotiations, said Wang Jinzhen, assistant to CCPIT Chairman, at the ongoing conference on Sino-Indian economic and trade cooperation held in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Yang Suyun, general manager of the Kunming Unicom Trading Company, said, India was one of the overseas investment destinations Chinese companies should pay attention to.

"The fast economic growth between China and India has opened up a broader market for bilateral trade," said Yang, who disclosed his company had set up a company in India not long ago.

Rajive Kaul, former president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said in view of the population and regional adjacency of the two countries, it is possible to raise the Sino-Indian trade volume to 100 billion US dollars. China is quite likely to become the biggest trade partner of India.

Vinay Watra, commerce counselor of the Indian Embassy to China, said there was a big room for cooperation between India and China in fields of agriculture, machinery, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, IT, food processing, to automobile parts.

A growing number of Indian companies showed great interest in central and western Chinese regions where infrastructures have been improving.

Vinit Gupte, chief representative of Air India, said his company considers to open a new air route between India and Kunming in Yunnan Province which shares borders with Vietnam, the Laos and Myanmar. Enditem