BIZCHINA / Top Biz News
China may top US as India's lead trade partner
By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-18 08:49
China will likely emerge as India's largest trading partner, overtaking
the United States within a few years, with the two-way trade hitting
US$100 billion in the near future, predicts a senior Indian businessman.
Saroj Kumar Poddar, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said yesterday in Beijing that "tremendous
potentials" exist in regards to bilateral trade between the world's two
fastest-growing economies.
The trade between China and India last year hit a record of US$18.7
billion, jumping 38 per cent year-on-year.
If the growth is sustained, the bilateral trade could soon overtake
Indo-US trade, which is hovering around US$30 billion, said Poddar, who
is leading a FICCI CEO delegation in China this week.
But Poddar said in order to carry on the robust growth, it is crucial to
diversify the Indian export basket from primary products to manufactured
items and processed products.
India's exports to China now are largely restricted to primary and
resource-based products, such as iron ore exports, which constitute more
than half of India's total exports to China.
"One of my tasks this time in China is trying to find ways to diversify
the export basket, especially increasing the proportion of high
value-added products," Poddar told China Daily.
This week's visit by the FICCI delegation, which is composed of a dozen
representatives from modern Indian industries, is regarded as a crucial
step for the sustainable long-term growth of Sino-Indian trade.
Poddar said the delegation members come from a wide range of industries,
including fertilizer, energy, food processing, petrochemicals, textile
and tobacco sectors.
"We have diversified interests and are looking for opportunities in
different fields," Poddar said, adding that the delegation would visit
Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and Shanghai this
week, exchanging views with local businesspeople on the Chinese economy.
Poddar said India and China, dubbed the "double engines" of economic
development in Asia, would further benefit if they had a closer
relationship with each other.
"The two countries have many complementary aspects and we can learn from
each other," Poddar said. "China's development depends highly on foreign
trade and investment, while India mainly lies on the growth of domestic
enterprises. Each of us can draw experience from the other."
Poddar called it "very natural" for the two populous countries to be
rivals in the world's economic arena.
"Even Indian companies themselves are competing one another. Competition
makes us have the best Chinese enterprises and the best Indian
enterprises."
When talking about the feasibility of reaching a free trade agreement
(FTA) between India and China, Poddar said it would happen in the future,
but it is still premature for now.
"We need to understand each other better before such an agreement is
reached," Poddar said. "It takes time."
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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