MUMBAI: Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai on Sunday called for closer integration of Asian nations in bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

He was speaking at the Asia Society's 16th Asian corporate conference session on `China-India Bilateral Economic Cooperation', inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday.

Taking a cue from Mr. Manmohan Singh's remarks on Saturday that India was linking into a web of partnerships with countries of the region through free trade and economic cooperation agreements, Mr. Xilai cited the growing economic links between China and Asia, wherein China has become the largest market for Korea, the second largest market for Japan, the third largest for India, Thailand and the Philippines, the fourth largest for Indonesia and Malaysia and the fifth largest for Singapore.

Citing the six-fold growth in Sino-Indian trade, reaching $ 18.7 billion in 2005, Mr. Xilai said closer cooperation between the two countries would set the tone for the beginning of Asian century.

He underscored India's economic growth in recent years and said the country enjoyed two distinct advantages compared to China — familiarity with the English language and a growing population where a two-child norm was being followed, unlike the one-child norm in China.

Underlying the need for closer cooperation, the Minister said that China could learn from Indian experience in information technology and software development, education and services sector development, even as India sought to benchmark China's achievements in infrastructure development.

The Minister said China did not enjoy cutting edge in the manufacturing sector and said the country would continue to learn the best practices from other countries, including India.

On the rule of law in China, he said that democracy was a process and not the ultimate goal. The key priority of the Government was to ensure a higher standard of living. According to him the definition of democracy was understood differently in the developed countries.

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