China asks Indian firms to gain from its growing import market

By PTI Dec 09 2012 , Beijing

China is encouraging its companies to buy more from India to address the neighboring

country's ballooning trade deficit, its top diplomat Dai Bingguo has said, asking Indian firms to "seize" the opportunity offered by the Chinese import market which is expected to touch a whopping $10 trillion by 2015.

"China pays close attention to the trade imbalance. We have already encouraged Chinese companies to import more from India and will continue to do so," Dai, China's Chief negotiator with India for over a decade, told PTI in an interview here.

India's trade deficit with China has grown to $23 billion in the first ten months of this year. Last year the deficit stood at $27.07 billion even though bilateral trade touched all time high of $73.9 billion.

Dai, China's pointman for India for the border issue, played down the focus on the trade deficit.

"China's economy is an open economy. We do not seek a trade surplus. While China enjoys a surplus with the US, Europe and India, it has a deficit with Japan and the Republic of Korea," said Dai, who is set to retire in March as the administration of the outgoing President Hu Jintao steps down to pave the way for new leadership headed by Xi Jinping.

"It is true that China's export has grown fast, but our import has grown at an even faster pace," he said. "China is implementing its 12th five-year plan (2011-15). During this period, China's total import is expected to reach $10 trillion. I sincerely hope that Indian companies will seize this opportunity and export more products that meet the demand of the Chinese market."

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