2018年CRI Xi, Modi vow to enhance mutual trust

The leaders of China and India have wrapped up a series of meetings in central China, with the two suggesting they've been able to reach consensus 1 on various issues through the informal setting.

Touted 2 as a first-of-its-kind for China-India relations, two days of meetings between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi in Hubei's capital, Wuhan, has seen the two leaders take a relaxed approach to their talks, visiting a museum, taking a lakeside stroll and a boat ride.

Discussions have mostly centered around bilateral 3 relations, with both suggesting they hope to build up a sense of trust, while at the same time encouraging people-to-people exchanges.

Chinese President Xi Jinping says China and India, emerging economies with the largest populations in the world, share many similarities, and also have significant responsibilities.

"The combined population of China and India exceeds 2.6 billion. Both countries enjoy great economic and market potential and steadily 4 growing international influence. The prospect 5 for our cooperation is broad, the potential is enormous. The international situation is undergoing a critical period of changes and adjustment. Both China and India are important engines of global economic growth and backbone 6 forces for promoting multi-polarization and economic globalization. A sound China-India relationship is an important, positive factor for safeguarding world stability."

Noting both countries have entered new stages of development, Xi Jinping is suggesting the two leaders can continue to work on plans for cooperation in a relaxed setting.

"Looking ahead, we should focus on development and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to achieve national rejuvenation 7, create an Asia featuring stability, development and prosperity in the 21st century, and make a positive contribution to global peace and development. Informal meeting may become a regular method of communication between us two. I look forward to having in-depth exchange with you and I believe we will surely reach new important consensus and promote the Sino-Indian relations to a higher level."

Xi Jinping has also suggested the two countries have the ability to inject a positive influence in creating a balance in the global power structure.

He also says China and India should try to handle their differences in a mature manner, but at the same time, work together to promote regional economic integration 8 and interconnectivity.

For his part, Narendra Modi notes both China and India share a unique role in past, as well as the future.

"You are right. We are two state leaders representing over 2.6 billion people. This meeting is significant, not only to our two countries, but also the region and the world. Both of our countries boast ancient civilizations and have drawn 9 upon many experiences from the long history of our civilizations. In over 1,600 years of the past 20 centuries, the economies and India and China took up 50 percent of that of the entire world. That's a big number. For the world, it's a big thing. Both countries did have major impacts on the global economy."

Modi has also proposed regular high-level contact between the two sides, while at the same time, voicing support for globalization and the multilateral trading system.