China's ambassador to India Zhang Yan on Tuesday urged China and India to settle existing border disputes properly, calling into play the greatest possible political wisdom.

Zhang made the proposal in an interview with Xinhua ahead of the 13th bilateral meeting on border issues set down for August 7-8 in India. The meeting will be co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan.

"Despite the twists and turns in China-India ties and border disputes, the two countries share the same historical responsibilities of developing economies, improving people's lives and safeguarding world peace and development, which requires them to properly handle existing problems with the utmost political wisdom," he said.

Zhang, who has served as China's ambassador to the subcontinent since March 2008, said the two countries are facing valuable development opportunities. He called on both sides to use the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries next year to cement bilateral links and contribute to Asia's and world peace and development.

The two largest Asian countries have witnessed rapid growth in their relationship in recent years and forged a strategic cooperative partnership, Zhang said, saying there were frequent visits between top leaders and increasing parliamentary, youth and military exchanges.

China is now India's top trading partner, while India has become China's largest overseas project contracting market and an important investment destination.

Bilateral trade volume between the two hit 51.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, up 35 percent over the same period of a year ago. The two countries have also set a target of bilateral trade volume of 60 billion U.S. dollars by 2010.

Talking about global affairs, the ambassador said the two countries share the same stance on major international and regional issues, and had maintained close cooperation on hot topics such as climate change, food security, Doha negotiations and the worldwide economic downturn.

"As emerging powers, China and India have worked closely within the frameworks of BRIC, the five developing nations and the Group of 20, to safeguard the common interests of developing countries," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2009)