Trade relations between India and China witness a tremendous growth

India considers China its largest trading partner. The expected joint Indo China trade is likely to reach US$60 billion by the end of 2009 , says, Mr. Shen Wenping, Vice Director of Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation during a very recent Seminar with the Business Delegation from Jiaxing, China, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in New Delhi.

It is pertinent to note that China and India export and Import from each other’s place in a huge manner . The details are as under

Priority List of Imports by India's from China

• Electrical Machinery

• Machinery

• Plastic

• Organic Chemicals and Inorganic Chemicals

• Iron And Steel, Iron/Steel Products

• Rare Earth Metals

• Fertilizers

• Impregnated Text Fabrics

• Manmade Filament, Fabric

• Silk; Silk Yarn, Fabric

• Vehicles

• Mineral Fuel, Oil Etc

• Aluminum

 Out of total imports by India from China , 47% are of Electrical products, electronic products and machineries .Hence, there is huge potential in Indian market for other Chinese products .

Priority List of Imports by China from India

• Machinery

• Plastic

• Ores, Slag, Ash

• Iron And Steel

• Metals

• Organic Chemicals Salt; Sulphur; Earth, Stone

• Inorganic Chemicals; Rare Earth Metals

• Cotton and Yarn, Fabric

• Copper and Articles Thereof

• Electrical Machinery

• Hides And Skins

• Artificial Flowers, Feathers

• Tanning, Dye, Paint, Putty

• Precious Stones

• Fish And Seafood

 Whereas, 76% to 80% of total exports by India to China consists of Ores, Slag, Cotton, Yarn, Fabric; Precious Stones, Metals, Artificial Flowers, Feathers and hides, Copper Articles and skin

The figures of trade between 2001 to 2008 speaks the rest of the story and also reflect what is the potential of trade between these two countries in coming years as both the countries are committed to increase the trade.

                                                                   India-China trade (2001-2008)

Mr. Wenping mentioned , that Jaixing city was closely associated with the CII for over the past couple of years which eventually led them to sign an MOU early this year. It was also brought to notice, that during the ongoing recession, China was involved in speeding up the development of infrastructure and education sector and Indian enterprises were invited to run language schools from China.

At present , CII is having a full fledged special office at Shanghai , China to boost the trade between India and China .

The delegation from Jaixing, was visiting India determined to promote Jaixing city as an attractive destination amongst the many Indian enterprises along with developing bilateral ties. The main aim was to explore potential opportunities for individually owned companies in Jiaxing, to invest in the overseas market. This enables promotion of cooperative projects within India, with an aim to gain new sources of imports.

Mr. Wenping wished that their visit would solidify India-China trade relations. His visit to India and the many proposals for developments within India served this purpose. Jiaxing city planned to set up three to five ITO/BPO parks. It was now in the process of getting in touch with the big IT companies from India like Infosys, HCL, and TATA Consultancy to offer their expertise, he affirmed.

Jiaxing, which exports goods worth US$ 230 million to India. Among the 30 foreign companies operating in Jiaxing, eight companies are of Indian origin. The Indian companies are doing business worth US$ 8.69 billion. India is the 15th largest exports destination and 29th largest exporter in Jianxing, confirmed Mr. Wenping.

In his welcome remark at the seminar, Mr. Ravi Bhoothalingam, Member, CII National Committee of Tourism & Chairman, Manas Advisory Pvt. Ltd. stated that the delegation’s visit to India is very important especially at the time when the meltdown has affected diverse sectors within the country. In today’s times, India and China are big locomotives of the economy which can pull out the world from the economic mayhem.

Mr. Bhoothalingam welcomes the delegation to provide benefits to other sectors as well. These include providing complementary capabilities for business opportunities in IT, Pharma, Hardware, Bulk Drugs, Power & Energy, Environment, Tourism and many more.

In recent years lot of joint councils and chambers have emerged to boost the trade between China and India and one of the prominent being India China Chamber of Commerce & Industry(ICCI) having its office in Mumbai, India. The main mission of this chamber is to promote the business China, Hong Kong and Macau with India through commerce, investment, industrial collaboration, technology transfer, joint ventures, international exhibitions, business delegations, economic cooperation, people to people friendship etc.

Recently, ICCI through its Addl. Director Ms Jenny Zeliang has entered into an agreement with Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) officials in Bangalore for strengthening the trade between chinese and Karnataka industries .

These have had been some of the initiative and much more is expected to come as both India and China are worlds strongest and emerging economy which were unfettered by the recent global recession as well.