NEW DELHI: India and China must redouble their efforts to deepen mutual trust as well as to expand trade and investment ties, according to a senior Chinese official.
“We must redouble our efforts to find ways to deepen mutual trust, strengthen communication, properly handle differences, diversify our trade and expand trade scope, encourage mutual investment so as to promote mutually beneficial cooperation,” Li Baijun, Counsellor, Embassy of China in India, said at a seminar organised to promote the 'China Import and Export Fair' — also known as the ‘Canton Fair.’
The Indian government had repeatedly taken up with Beijing the “difficulties” faced by Indian exporters in getting market access for their goods and services in China, as well as India’s widening goods trade deficit with China. India’s goods trade deficit with China has ballooned from $1.1 billion in 2003-04 to $52.7 billion in 2015-16.
Mr. Li said the 121st session of the 'Canton Fair' – to be held from April 15-27, 2017 in Guangzhou (China) -- is a concrete step taken by the Chinese Government to promote that country’s trade with other countries.
Sluggish trade
In the last session of the Fair, there were over 1.8 lakh overseas buyers from more than 200 countries, and among them 8,500 were from India, he said. “Currently, world economic growth and trade are sluggish and the financial market is still turbulent. Under these circumstances, both China and India play very important roles in world economies… China’s development provides huge opportunities and potential for India,” Mr. Li said. Indian and Chinese governments can and should play the role of facilitators in the bilateral trade and economic cooperation, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Ajay Sahai, Director General & Chief Executive Officer, Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said: “India’s rising trade deficit with China is a cause of concern… While China accounted for 16.22 per cent of India’s imports, it only contributes to 3.45 per cent of our exports, a figure which further came down to 3.10 per cent in April-September, 2016.”
Mr. Sahai said one of the big challenges has been the difficulty in getting market access for India’s pharmaceuticals, medical and diagnostic equipment, agriculture and food processing products in China. “The registration is both time consuming and prohibitive (in China). The mutual recognition agreement between the two countries is nowhere near the sight,” he said.
Banking sector
Banking sector also poses a challenge as not many Indian banks are present in China, Mr. Sahai added. Stating that both the countries need to leverage their advantage for mutual benefits, he pointed out that some Indian companies in auto-component sector are doing their research & development and innovations in India and passing on the prototypes to China for mass production both for catering to Indian and Chinese markets.
“These kinds of experiments would be successful in many other categories as well.” Mr. Sahai said India can look for opening services trade with China besides IT/ITeS, adding that joint venture possibilities should be considered in tourism, alternative systems of medicine, and consultancy.
