China for greater economic ties with India
By IANSTuesday, January 19, 2010
NEW DELHI - India and China should look at developing their economic relationship, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Tuesday told visiting Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.
“The Chinese premier emphasised that China and India should work together to further develop their economic relationship as an important plank of their bilateral partnership,” a commerce ministry statement issued here said.
“He agreed that both sides could work together to ensure more balanced trade,” the statement added.
Earlier, Sharma and his Chinese counterpart Chen Demingco chaired the eighth meeting of the India-China Joint Economic Group (JEG), which was meeting after a gap of four years.
According to the statement, the Indian minister drew attention to the large and growing trade deficit that is skewed in favour of China, and requested the Chinese side to take corrective steps to reduce the imbalance.
Among other issues, the ministry said Sharma asked China to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers to the import of power plant equipment from India, and lift restrictions on import of basmati rice.
Senior officials here said the commerce minister will seek much greater access for Indian companies to the market of a country that has become India’s largest trading partner with two-way shipments valued at $45 billion.
“India is obviously concerned that the balance of trade is heavily skewed in China’s favour — as high as $14 billion. So, our minister is expected to focus on easing of barriers, especially non-tariff barriers,” said one official.
“We are also aware of the issues involving employment visas for Chinese workers here. We hope some form of mechanism can be talked about,” the official said, adding it could be in the form of a percentage of Chinese workers per project.
During the day, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the China Chambers of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronics (CCCME) signed an agreement to promote cooperation between them.
