Friday, January 22, 2010

The 8th Session of China-India Joint Group on the Economy, Trade, Science and Technology Held in Beijing

Thursday,January 21,2010 Posted: 12:36 BJT(0436 GMT) MOFCOM




On January 19, the 8th Session of China-India Joint Group on the Economy, Trade, Science and Technology was held in Beijing. Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming and Indian Minister of Commerce & Industry Sharma co-chaired the session. Attending the Session were Gu Chaoxi, Vice Governor of Yunnan, and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Information, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, State Energy Administration, State Food & Drug Administration and relevant local commercial departments.

According to Chen, since the 7th Session of China-India Joint Group on the Economy, Trade, Science and Technology held in 2006, the economic and trade cooperation has gained great achievements in various sectors thanks to the common efforts of the government and businessmen of both countries. And the bilateral trade doubled from 2006 to 2008, which made India the fastest-growing trade partner of China. The cooperation in infrastructure developed rapidly and became the highlight of the bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Meanwhile, the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement promoted two-way investment. The accumulated investment in China by India was beyond US$300 million while the accumulated investment in India by China reached US$250 million. Additionally, the labor exchange of both countries has become increasingly frequent and the cooperation has also been made in fields of multilateral trade system and regional economy. China and India support each other in multilateral organizations such as WTO, and made joint efforts in establishing new international economic order and safeguarding the benefits of developing countries.

Chen said that given the current global economic situation, China and India, as the two largest developing countries and emerging economies, share common benefits and responsibilities in the economic recovery and the economic integration in Asia, and thus, both countries should enhance the cooperation and jointly cope with challenges. China has always paid high attention to the economic and trade cooperation with India and has made great efforts to promote the development of the bilateral trade. China hopes that both sides could make full use of relevant mechanisms to enhance the cooperation in the trade remedy, and encourage dialogues and negotiations and provide platforms for resolving problems in the bilateral trade.

Sharma stated that India welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest in India. And India will take relevant measures to create sound investment environment for Chinese enterprises, such as simplifying the investment approval procedure and making relevant policies transparent. Sharma also appreciated China’s measures to develop the bilateral trade, and agreed with Chen's suggestions on enhancing the communication and cooperation of the two countries. As friendly neighbors and economies with rapidest development in the world, China and India have great potential in cooperation. Both countries could make deep exchanges and cooperation in fields of infrastructure, agriculture, pharmacy, health care and new energy so as to further promote the development of the bilateral economic and trade relations and strive to realize in 2010 the goal of the bilateral trade value of US$60 billion which has been set up by leaders of the two countries.

Both sides also exchanged views on other economic and trade issues of common concerns. After the session, Chen and Sharma signed MOU on extending the trade and economic cooperation of the Joint Group on Economy of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and Indian Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Then, they jointly held a press conference and accepted the interviews of reporters at home and abroad.

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