India-China trade will pick up again: Chidambaram

The India-China trade which slowed down in the last two years will return to the high growth path and reach the USD 100 billion target set by the two nations, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.
"China is one of our largest trading partners. We were growing at a clipping rate. But in the last year and half it has more or less stagnated because of slow down in both the countries," Chidambaram told Chinese state-run CCTV in an interview during the recent Davos conclave in Switzerland.
Prime Ministers of both the countries last year fixed USD 100 billion as the official trade target to be achieved by 2015.

"We think we will get out of this (slowdown) very soon. It will grow again. The target for of two-way trade is USD 100 billion. We hope we can achieve it in about two to three years," Chidambaram said.
The bilateral trade touched USD 65.47 billion, a slight dip of 1.5 per cent, year-on-year, in 2013. It had declined to USD 66.7 billion 2012, from the all time high of around USD 74 billion in 2011.
More importantly, for India, the trade deficit with China touched a whopping USD 31.42 billion last year causing widespread concern in India.
China promised to step up investments in India this year through investment parks to address India's concerns.