Chinese Consul General in Mumbai Kong Xianhua has said the economic and cultural connections between the people of China and India are so strong that nothing and nobody could push them apart. Kong was addressing a gathering on Friday on the occasion of the Chinese New Year Reception and Chinese Cultural Festival in Mumbai. He said that 2023 marked a year of achievements and harvest for both China and India. "It is the extensive cooperation between our people that makes it happen," he said. The China-India trade volume surpassed 136.2 billion dollars in 2023, he said. The Chinese Embassy and its Consulates-General in India have issued more than 1.8 lakh visas in the last year, showing a new high of Indian visitors to China after the pandemic, he said. One of the biggest news in Mumbai these days is that the Coastal Road is set to open this month, he said. "It is worth noting that the tunnel under Malabar Hill (in south Mumbai), the hardest part of the project, was built with a Ch