Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with India's Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren)

BANGKOK, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here Thursday with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' meeting and other related meetings.

Wang said China attaches great importance to its relations with India and the leaders of the two countries have engaged in close interactions since India's new government was formed.

As two major neighboring countries and two major emerging economies, China and India are facing new opportunities in developing bilateral relations, the Chinese state councilor said.

China stands ready to join hands with India to prepare for future high-level exchanges, well promote the people-to-people and cultural exchange mechanism, and work for the successful holding of meetings between the two countries' special representatives on the boundary issue as well as strategic economic dialogue, Wang said.

China pays great attention to the trade imbalance between the two countries, Wang also said, adding that China is willing to work with India to make the cake of cooperation bigger, import more high-quality products from India and boost cooperation in such fields as investment, production capacity, tourism, telecommunication and connectivity.

He also noted that China is willing to deepen communication and coordination with India in regional and international affairs, push for regional cooperation focusing on development and cooperation and featuring inclusiveness and openness so as to promote prosperity and stability of Asia.

For his part, the Indian external affairs minister said India-China relations are now at a crucial stage and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to further promote bilateral relations in his new term, adding that India is optimistic about the prospects of bilateral economic cooperation and stands ready to expand common interests and deepen pragmatic cooperation with China.

On the 5G issue, he said India will make independent decisions in line with its national interests.

India is also willing to actively participate in the building of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, he added.