MUMBAI — State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of India’s Maharashtra state in Mumbai on Dec 23.

China and India are both ancient civilizations that have made important contributions to mankind’s development, Wang noted.

Today, China and India are the world’s two largest developing countries and two major emerging economies, he said, adding that by joining hands to develop together, China and India can change the world.

As an important part of China-India ties, people-to-people exchanges between the two sides enjoy huge development potentials, Wang said.

China is willing to work with India to further expand communications in the fields of overseas students, tourism, friendship cities and film and TV industry, Wang said.

He hoped that Maharashtra state would take the lead not only in the national development of India, but also in China-India cooperation, and contribute to the development of China-India ties, he added.

For his part, Fadnavis sang high praise for China’s achievements and expressed willingness to learn from China’s experiences on sustainable development and infrastructure construction.

It is high time for the two countries to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and his state is ready to take the opportunity of implementing the outcomes of the first meeting of China-India high level people-to-people exchanges mechanism to push forward exchanges and cooperation in sectors such as tourism, film making, technology and university education, said the chief minister.

Wang is on a visit to India to co-chair the first meeting of China-India high level people-to-people exchanges mechanism with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.