It’s official now. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is all set to make first official visit to China at the end of this month. On Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry said that leaders of both the Asian giants would discuss issues ranging from border disputes to competition for resources also.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, Manmohan Singh’s first trip to China is scheduled to be started from Jan 13-15. Yu said:

We have had a fruitful exploration of the framework for resolving the issue in the three rounds of talks on the issue last year. We will make joint efforts to try to find a fair and rational settlement that is acceptable to both countries.

The official Chinese data says that the trade between these two neighboring countries has touched $34.2 billion mark in 2007. It went up to 54 per cent from the same period (January to November) in the year 2006.

However, despite growing bilateral trade both the countries are front runner in competition over almost everything from their influence on global issues to energy resources.

The Beijing administration has reportedly expressed their deep concerns on several occasions over the growing relation between India and the United states. China is equally conscious about the civilian nuclear deal signed between India and US and the political hurdles rising in India due to the stand of communist leaders against the deal. India, on the other hand, has always expressed its own concern over China’s close relationship with Pakistan.

However, the bilateral ties are warming now and after Sonia Gandhi’s visit now Manmohan Singh’s first trip would hopefully work for establishing mutual understanding and better ties between both the neighboring countries.

Earlier, President Hu Jintao had visited India in November 2006 that was the first visit by a Chinese president in past ten years. Recently, both the countries held a week-long anti-terrorism drill that was their first joint army exercise. So, the road ahead is looking smooth for the betterment of bilateral relationship between these two Asian giants but the border disputes may ruin the party at any point of time. We can hope for the best.