China, India open banking sector to each other .

India and China have agreed to grant permission to each other's banks to open branches and representative offices, apart from setting a bilateral trade target of $100 billion to be achieved by 2015.

On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India and China Banking Regulatory Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding for increasing banking and financial cooperation between them. This was agreed to as part of the joint communiqué issued after delegation-level talks between the visiting Chinese Premier, Mr Wen Jiabbao, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.

Addressing trade deficit

The two sides also agreed to take measures to promote greater Indian exports to China with a view to reducing India's trade deficit.

To achieve this objective, China will support Indian participation in China's national and regional trade fairs, advance trade facilitation, enhance exchange and cooperation of pharmaceutical supervision, develop stronger relationships between Chinese enterprises and Indian IT industry apart from ensuring speedier completion of phyto-sanitary negotiations in agro products.

Economic dialogue

The two countries also agreed to establish a strategic economic dialogue to enhance macro-economic policy coordination, to promote exchanges and interactions and join hands to address issues and challenges appearing the economic development and enhance economic cooperation.

The two sides also agreed to further broad base and balance trade and economic cooperation, apart from identifying new opportunities to realise the vast potential for future growth.

An India-China CEO Forum was also constituted to deliberate on business issues and make recommendations of trade and investment cooperation. The two countries also agreed to expand cooperation in infrastructure, environmental protection, information technology, telecommunications, investment and finance on a priority basis to draw on each other's strength and pursue mutual benefit and win-win results.

India welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest and participate in its infrastructure development including roads, railways and the manufacturing sector, the joint communiqué adds.

Among the agreements initialled include a MoU between the Ministry of Water Resources of the two countries on provision of hydrological data on the Sutlej in flood season by China to India, and another between the Export-Import Bank of India and China Development Bank Corporation.

India and China also agreed to cooperate in ‘Green technologies' that would include modernisation of power grid, clean energy and green transportation.


Source : thehindubusinessline.com