Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to visit China next month
Beijing: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Beijing early next month to take part in the crucial 8th round of RCEP Ministerial meeting during which he is also expected to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart to discuss measures to address burgeoning bilateral trade deficit.
Goyal, who also heads the Ministries of Industries and Railways, would visit Beijing from August 2 to 3, will be the first Indian minister to visit China after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government assumed power for the second term. Goyal will take part in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional Ministerial meet, the Indian Embassy said on Thursday.
His visit is regarded crucial for both bilateral trade issues and the RCEP talks.
Also, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too is scheduled to visit Beijing next month.
Their visits are taking place ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India later this year to take part in the 2nd informal summit with Modi which was expected to further solidify the bilateral ties after last year's Wuhan summit between them. India is pressing China to address the yawning trade deficit which last year mounted to over $57 billion in a $95.5 billion bilateral trade.
Also India, China bilateral trade has declined by 3.59 per cent year on year netting $36.87 billion in the first five months of this year, denting optimism that the total trade volume may cross for the first time $100 billion in 2019. India is demanding that China should open its markets for India's IT and pharmaceuticals sectors.
Chinese officials say measures have been taken to increase import of rice and sugar and accelerated the process of review and approvals of Indian pharmaceuticals and agricultural goods.
The two sides were expected to discuss more steps to increase Indian exports as well as Chinese investments to India specially for prime minister Modi's 'Make in India' initiative ahead of Xi's visit.
Also for India, this round of RCEP talks are important as the grouping of the 16 Asia-Pacific countries aims to create one of the world's largest trading bloc encompassing 45 per cent of the world's population and 40 per cent of global trade.
