Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Monday said that India could well benefit from the policy shift in China from export oriented to domestic consumer-driven economy by increasing exports and help bridge the trade deficit.
Expressing concern over the widening trade deficit between the two countries, Mr. Sharma said the policy shift would provide tremendous opportunity to Indian exporters to channel new shipments. India's trade deficit with China in 2010 stood at $20.02 billion against $15.87 billion in 2009.
“The recently unveiled 12th Five-Year Plan for 2012-16 by China, with a strong slant for a domestic consumer-driven economy will give enormous opportunity for Indian exporters to access China's huge consumer market in the coming years,” Mr. Sharma said after his meeting with Jiang Jufeng, the Governor of Sichuan Province of China, here on Monday.
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He said there was a great potential for cooperation between the regions. “India is an important partner to Sichuan Province, in terms of trade, engineering contracting and service outsourcing cooperation, as well as an emerging investment destination and source,” he added.
India has invested in seven projects in Sichuan, with a contracted foreign investment of $10.59 million. The province has annual trade of $1.2 billion with $1.1 billion in exports to India. Indian imports from the province include electrical and mechanical equipment, audio and video equipment, textiles, metal ware and chemicals. Exports include minerals, chemicals and electrical and mechanical products.
In January, total volume of import and export between Sichuan and India soared 41.64 per cent to $129 million on yearly basis. China has emerged as one of India's largest trading partners. The bilateral trade stood at $61.74 billion in 2010.
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