India and China agreed to boost economic cooperation, open up their markets and improve the investment environment for each other's companies during the first-ever Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), which was held here on Monday.
A particularly promising outcome of the first SED, officials said, was agreement to have closer cooperation between the two countries' railway networks, which could subsequently pave the way for the involvement of Chinese companies in proposed plans to build six high-speed rail corridors in India.
Energy efficiency
The two countries also agreed to learn from each other's development experiences to face common challenges, such as improving energy efficiency, tackling water scarcity and combating climate change.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission who led the Indian delegation, described the talks as an important first step of a “knowledge transfer” that could bring substantial benefits to both countries.
“China's economic reforms began a decade and more before those of India,” he told his Chinese counterpart Zhang Ping, who heads the powerful National and Development Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top planning body, at the start of the dialogue. “We in India are deeply impressed by your progress and we believe there are many lessons from your experience that may be valuable to us.”
The dialogue, said Mr. Zhang, wound enhance trust and promote the “long-term and steady development” of both economies and have a “profound impact” on both the countries. The two countries agreed to initiate the SED dialogue during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in December. The next round will be held in New Delhi in April 2012.
The SED was set up with the objective of increasing coordination on macro-economic policies and to provide a platform for both countries to leverage common interests and shared developmental experiences. The idea behind the dialogue, officials said, was to look at the larger picture and go beyond trade. A separate Joint Economic Group dialogue, between both Commerce Ministers, has been set up to tackle trade issues, including the widening imbalance in China's favour.
Monday's dialogue featured three specific working groups, on the railways, water, and energy efficiency and the environment.
Officials said the railways held particular potential for cooperation.
India is keen to learn from China's development of its freight network, which was, two decades ago, in a similar position to India's.
Freight traffic
Today, China's freight traffic is four times that of India's.
Another area of possible collaboration is on high-speed train technology. China has built the world's biggest high-speed rail network in recent years, and has expressed interest to play a role in proposed plans for a network of six high-speed corridors in India.
