Sept. 27 – Both China and India have stated aims to increase mutual trade between them at meetings held in Beijing the past two days. India’s powerful Planning Commission Deputy Boss Montek Singh Ahluwalia has been meeting with China’s NDRC Chief Zhang Ping and conducting discussions covering a number of avenues exploring bilateral trade.
Much of the meetings are believed to have focused on Chinese investment into the infrastructure sector in India, which has plans to spend US$500 billion over the next three years in developing roads, rail and ports. Conflicts have arisen in the past with China winning tenders only to fall foul of Indian immigration laws and local politics concerning imported Chinese labor.
“The development of Sino-India ties is relatively stable, and the world is full of potential for cooperation between China and India,” China’s Foreign Ministry said.
Ahluwalia, meanwhile, said that India could learn lessons from China in developing its economy.
“China’s economic reforms began a decade earlier than India’s. Your achievements in transforming your economy are well recognized globally,” he said.
China and India still face problems in resolving territorial disputes, more recently over India’s planned joint operations with Vietnam to drill for oil and gas in the South China Sea. Nonetheless, bilateral trade is set to grow at an astonishing 40 percent annually from its current base of US$60 billion.
“There are increased investments from both sides in this bilateral trade space and our firm is expanding its HR infrastructure to cope with this specific demand,” says Chris Devonshire-Ellis of Dezan Shira & Associates, who maintain 17 foreign direct investment offices between the two countries. “The China-India relationship is growing in international importance and cooperation between the two nations can only positively increase the impact both will have on the global economy.”
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