China, India share huge cooperation potential: FM

BEIJING - China and India share extensive common interests and have a huge potential for cooperation, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a routine news briefing when asked for comment on official interaction between China and India recently.

Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, held talks with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval last Friday. The two countries also held the fifth meeting of China-India Strategic Economic Dialogue in Beijing last Saturday.

"This year, under the guidance of the two countries' leaders, the relationship between China and India has maintained a positive momentum with close exchanges and new cooperation progress at various levels," Hua said.

The two sides also held meetings on border affairs and trans-boundary river working mechanisms, Hua said, adding such dialogue fully showed that China and India shared extensive common interests and had a huge potential for cooperation.

"China attaches great importance to its relations with India, and stands ready to work with India to implement the major consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries," Hua said. "The two sides should accumulate more positive energy, and expand new cooperation fields to promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations."