The Prime Minister of China, Li Keqiang, during his visit here , urged the Indian business community to have greater trade ties with his country to address the problem of trade imbalance between the two countries.
“Those who have long-term vision will seize the opportunity. The founder of Tata Group worked in China as early as 1860. That time he was not a big businessman. Now the Tata Group is a big conglomerate. That is why I want to say that your dream to make it big will come true in China. I am encouraging Indian business people to come to China for investment and trade. We are a population of 1 billion and Indian companies can make their dream possible,” Mr. Keqiang said. He was addressing the India-China business co-operation summit jointly organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) here. The meeting was also attended by the Chinese delegation.
Praising the Tatas several times during his 20 minute address for their technological innovations, Mr. Keqiang said “TCS has supplied the necessary software on which many Chinese banks run today. This shows that Indian products have competitive edge in China.”
He said the leadership of India and China were committed to enhance trade relations between the two countries and a balanced trade could be achieved through greater participation from the Indian side.
“There will not be a strong Asia without co-operation between India and China. Looking ahead as we work together, we will create new miracle,” the Chinese premier said.
Gao Hucheng, Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, said that “Now we are encouraging Indian companies to export to China and in recent years China has put tremendous effort to enhance bilateral trade.” He said, on Tuesday, MoUs for 20 procurement projects and other financing projects were signed, having total value of $1.497 billion.
During this visit, a tripartite agreement between Essar Energy plc, China Development Bank and PetroChina International Co. Ltd. was sighed for a $1 billion financial co-operation by which the debt would be backed by a supply of refined fuels by Essar Oil to PetroChina.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said: “We will both ensure that trade is better balanced. We have to learn a lot from China in the areas of energy efficiency, railway development, renewable energy, managing urbanisation and water resources.”
