Take the Chinese route, says FM

India had a lot to learn from China's near double-digit economic growth and emergence as the world's factory, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today, after touring the Communist giant's gleaming economic hub, Shanghai.

Chidambaram, who met his counterpart Jin Renqing, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng and visited the Suzhou industrial park in the neighbouring Jiangsu province and the booming Pudong financial district, felt that India could learn from the way the Chinese was developing its economy at such a fast pace.

"Most of our major companies are here. I think it is an opportunity to showcase what we can do," Chidambaram, who inaugurated the third 'Made in India' (MII) show here yesterday, said.

He, however, said India had more to learn from China than teach that country. "More than what we can tell or teach them (the Chinese), we have a lot to learn and imbibe," said Chidambaram, who represented India at the just-concluded G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Xianghe city in north China.

The minister also used his spare time to see the Chinese capital city's fast-paced changes as it races to host the 2008 Olympic Games.