The India-China business leaders’ forum has decided to concentrate on seven key areas of business which are of mutual interest to both sides. These include power and renewable energy, infrastructure, IT services, pharmaceuticals and banking and financial services.
A decision to constitute the forum was taken in 2008 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited China, which had already become India’s biggest trading partner. It was felt there was a need to diversify this relationship and concentrate on investments and put in place an institutional mechanism in this regard.
While industry chamber Ficci will provide institutional support for the forum, the latter has agreed to meet at least once annually, if not more, and preferably alternatively in India and China. The forum will prepare a report on issues which could be discussed in inter-governmental meetings between the two sides. To begin with, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the ministry of commerce and industry will provide the secretarial assistance.
Trade between the two countries has been growing and last year it hit touched $62 billion.
Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, however, has close ties with Chinese companies. The group had struck a mega-billion-dollar deal with Shanghai Electric Corp for the supply of power plants. Reliance Communications, the group’s telecom arm, also buys equipment from Huawei and ZTE, two of the leading equipment manufacturers in China.