BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Closer economic cooperation between China and India will bring mutual benefits to both countries, an expert with a government think tank said Tuesday.

"As the most populous two countries, reinforcing economic cooperation will help form a large regional market and make the two countries better-positioned in global competition," Li Wei, head of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said at a conference with an Indian think tank.

"China and India will be able to safeguard and improve multilateral frameworks and push forward globalization," he said.

"With better cooperation, the industrial sectors of both countries will complement each other, facilitating industrial upgrading and better industrial development," Li said. "They can also participate in each other's infrastructure construction and share development practices and theories, including those on special development zones."

Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India, at the conference, said close cooperation between the two populous countries was conducive to global economic stability and development.