Entrepreneurs and scholars from India and China said on Sunday that the two countries should find ways to eliminate the obstacles affecting bilateral trade and investment for the prosperity of both economies.

It seems inevitable for China and India, the two fastest-growing economies which have many in common in economic growth mode, to compete with each other, said Alan Rosling, executive director of Tata Sons Limited at the annual conference of the Boao Forum of Asia in China's southern island province of Hainan.

However, businesses from both countries can still find opportunities for cooperation in many sectors if obstacles are removed, according to the head of India's largest private sector group, saying the persistent obstacles will harm the sustainable development of both countries and the integration of the world market.

China's investment of 300 million U.S. dollars in India so far is belittled if compared with the country's huge economy, Rosling said on a seminar on the harmonious development among India, China and other Asian countries.

The India government should be blamed for blocking Chinese enterprises' accession to Indian sectors such as telecommunications with the excuse of national security, and the Chinese side is also responsible for Indian exporters' frustration in selling automobiles and steel products to China, Rosling noted.

Earlier reports said that some Chinese importers have agreed to temporarily boycott iron ore from India as the latter announced to increase the export tariff of iron ore to 300 rupees (6.8 dollars) per ton from March 1, a near 10-percent price hike.

Lin Yifu, a renowned economist from Beijing University's China Center for Economic Research, agreed with Rosling by saying that the two countries should make efforts to eliminate obstacles to trade and investment.

Statistics showed that the trade volume between the two countries surged to 24.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 from only 2.1 billion in 2000, making China the second biggest trade partner of India.

India is exporting iron ore, cotton and other raw materials, IT-related products and services to China, while China is mainly exporting finished industrial products to India in the past ten years.

The two countries signed an agreement in last November to boost cooperation in sectors like higher education, culture, tourism, space development, agriculture and flood prevention.

A report from the international accounting firm Deloitte, released during the just-concluded conference, said that great potential was expected for enterprises in both countries if the two economies could integrate their markets.

The analysts with Deloitte said both China and India had apparent advantages in the service and manufacturing sectors, and neither would specialize in one sector only.