"The free trade agreement is the next stage (of India-China relations). It is our hope that we can start the process," China's envoy to India, Zhang Yan, told reporters in New Delhi on Monday.

"We are very much positive on these issues. I think that in general the Indians think it is positive but need more time."

Wen Jiabao's visit will be the first to India by a Chinese premier in four years and comes a month after President Barack Obama's trip as major world powers boost ties with a South Asian nation that is one of the few stars in a weak world economy.

Despite a boom in bilateral commerce in the past decade and cooperation on global issues such as climate change, India and China remain suspicious of each other's growing international clout and influence.

Assistant Chinese Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue said everything would be up for discussion during the Dec. 15-17 visit to New Delhi. Wen then goes straight to Pakistan, India's nuclear rival, for another two nights.

"No issues are off the table," Hu told reporters in Beijing, adding the India trip was to expand bilateral trade, increase cooperation and promote regional peace and stability.

China and India plan to sign a series of business deals, including one agreed in October for Shanghai Electric Group Co. to sell power equipment and related services worth $8.3 billion to India's Reliance Power.

Representatives from Shanghai Electric and commercial banks would accompany the delegation and try to iron out financing details, said Liang Wentao, a deputy director general at the Ministry of Commerce. He would not give a value for the total amount of deals to be signed.

India's trade deficit with China rose to $16 billion in 2007-08 from $1 billion in 2001-02, according to Indian customs data. China is India's biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade expected to pass $60 billion this year.

India has sought to diversify its trade basket, but raw materials and other low-end commodities such as iron ore still make up about 60 percent of its exports to China.

In contrast, manufactured goods — from trinkets to turbines — form the bulk of Chinese exports.

"We believe the trade imbalance is due to the economic structure of the two countries and the import and export trade structure. As trade develops, that gap should narrow," Liang said.

India and China have also clashed repeatedly over a raft of political issues including their long-disputed border, China's increasingly close relationship with Pakistan, and fears of Chinese spying.

Wen rather pointedly is twinning his trip to India with a visit to rival Pakistan, where China has extensive port, power, and road investments.

During the Pakistan trip, Wen will discuss regional cooperation as well as long-term development, Hu said.

Hu acknowledged the visa issue could come up, as might Chinese dam building on the upper reaches of important rivers, including the Brahmaputra, known in China as the Yarlung Zangbo.

"The dam won't influence the development of the relationship between the two countries, and it won't influence the livelihood of people living downstream," Hu said. "The visa issue falls under the category of details."