Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said that China is ready to negotiate a bilateral trade arrangement with India to expand trade relations.
Addressing media at the Institute of Chinese Studies, the Chinese envoy said, "We would like to negotiate a bilateral trade arrangement with India to expand trade relations. We may encourage economic cooperation on major projects such as new industrial parks and high-speed railway."
He further said that China will import more sugar, non-Basmati rice and high quality medicines from India to reduce the trade imbalance.
"A new bilateral trade target has been set for 100 billion USD by 2022," he added.
He further said that China encourages Indian companies to participate in China International Import Expo scheduled for November in Shanghai.
"We encourage more #Indian companies to participate in 1st #ChinaInternationalImportExpo in Shanghai this November. Surprisingly only 4 #Indian companies have decided to participate in the Expo. We call for #Indian government & business circles to be more active in participating," Luo tweeted.
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Hailing China-India ties, he said the relations between both the countries have gone beyond bilateral scope.
"Both the countries have faced common challenges in Asia and beyond. The two sides now need to enhance coordination and cooperation in SCO, BRICS, G20 and join hands to tackle global challenges," he added.
It is pertinent to mention that the India-China bilateral trade rose by 18.63 per cent and reached $84.44 billion last year.
The trade touched historic high despite tensions over a number of issues including the military standoff at Doklam, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China blocking India's efforts to bring about a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar and Beijing blocking India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).