India, China sign pact to set up Chinese industrial parks
1 July 2014 11:13 PM GMT
India and China on Monday signed a key agreement to set up Chinese Industrial Parks in India as their Commerce Ministers held the first meeting here after the new NDA government came to power.
On her first visit to China, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held talks with her Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng here during which she flagged India's concerns over the trade deficit which averaged over $35 billion a year and sought greater access to Indian goods and services.
The two sides later signed the MOU on Cooperation on Industrial Parks India to facilitate more Chinese investment in India to compensate the ballooning trade deficit, which now average around $35 billion a year. The bilateral trade totalled to $65.47 billion last year.
Ahead of her meeting with Gao, Sitharaman, who is part of the delegation of Vice President Hamid Ansari, said on Sunday that she will make a strong pitch for greater access for Indian goods and services into C hina and seek big ticket investments into the Chinese industrial parks.
India is expecting China to set up four industrial parks in different states. According to Chinese officials, its current investments in India stands at $1.1 billion, mostly in Gujarat.
India is asking China to open its market for Indian IT and Pharmaceuticals besides step up investments to compensate the trade deficit. She said she will press the Chinese minister to provide greater market access to Indian goods like gems, jewellery, grey cotton fabric, pharmaceuticals and IT. ‘The larger backdrop with which we are working is that there is definitely a big imbalance with China,’ she said.
On her first visit to China, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held talks with her Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng here during which she flagged India's concerns over the trade deficit which averaged over $35 billion a year and sought greater access to Indian goods and services.
The two sides later signed the MOU on Cooperation on Industrial Parks India to facilitate more Chinese investment in India to compensate the ballooning trade deficit, which now average around $35 billion a year. The bilateral trade totalled to $65.47 billion last year.
Ahead of her meeting with Gao, Sitharaman, who is part of the delegation of Vice President Hamid Ansari, said on Sunday that she will make a strong pitch for greater access for Indian goods and services into C hina and seek big ticket investments into the Chinese industrial parks.
India is expecting China to set up four industrial parks in different states. According to Chinese officials, its current investments in India stands at $1.1 billion, mostly in Gujarat.
India is asking China to open its market for Indian IT and Pharmaceuticals besides step up investments to compensate the trade deficit. She said she will press the Chinese minister to provide greater market access to Indian goods like gems, jewellery, grey cotton fabric, pharmaceuticals and IT. ‘The larger backdrop with which we are working is that there is definitely a big imbalance with China,’ she said.
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