"China and India are partners for cooperation, not rivals in competition," Wen told a meeting of business leaders at the start of a two-day visit -- his first to India in five years.

While hailing the "unprecedented progress" in economic ties in recent years, Wen said discussing ways to "substantially increase" two-way trade would be the focus of official talks Thursday with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.

Wen, the latest world leader to beat a path to India's door, was accompanied by 400 Chinese business leaders, far outnumbering the recent delegations headed by US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Despite numerous diplomatic thorns in the relationship, bilateral trade is set to reach 60 billion dollars this fiscal year, up from 42 billion dollars the year before.

Wen said he expected trade agreements worth around 16 billion dollars to be signed during his visit.

Acknowledging India's concerns over a trade surplus in China's favour of between 18 and 25 billion dollars, Wen said China stood ready to "facilitate access" for Indian IT and pharmaceutical products to the Chinese market.

"There is enough space in the world for the development of both China and India," he said, adding that the search for resources to keep their economies on the move should never be allowed to descend into "vicious competition".

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