NEW DELHI: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has assured India that both countries would work together to ensure a more balanced trade between the two countries. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, in a meeting with the Premier in Beijing on Tuesday, had pointed out that there was large and growing trade deficit that India was experiencing in its bilateral trade with China that needed to be corrected. India’s annual exports to China stands at about $11 billion, while China exports goods worth $27 billion to India.
In a joint economic group meeting with his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming, Mr Sharma pressed for greater import of IT and ITeS by China from India, removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers restricting import of power plant equipment from India, removal of restrictions on import of Basmati rice, fruits and vegetables, landing rights for Indian TV channels in China, and import of more Indian films by China, an official release said.
He added that there were procedural bottlenecks, including time consuming licensing procedures, being faced by Indian drugs and pharmaceuticals, which needed to be removed. During the JEG meeting, an India-China MOU on expansion of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, was signed which provides for the Chinese side to import as much of its requirement of value added goods from India as possible. China is India’s largest trade partner, while India is China’s tenth largest partner.
Source : The Economic Times