China willing to help Indian firms to cater to its market demand: Envoy

BEIJING: The Chinese market is open to all countries, including India, China’s new envoy to India, Xu Feihong, has said, maintaining that Beijing understands New Delhi's concerns over its burgeoning trade deficit and is willing to address this issue by facilitating more Indian companies to tap the Chinese market.

The trade deficit, a major concern of India for years, stood at USD 99.2 billion in 2023 in the overall bilateral trade of USD 136.2 billion.

In 2022, the trade deficit crossed the USD 100 billion mark by touching USD 101 billion for the first time.

India has been periodically flagging concerns and pressing China to open its IT and pharma sectors besides grains, its major export potential sectors. In an interaction with the PTI and China’s CGTN-TV before he headed to New Delhi to take up his posting, Xu reiterated Beijing’s often repeated assertions that it is not China’s intention to seek a trade surplus.

“There are multiple factors behind India's trade deficit. China understands India's concern. It is never our intention to seek a trade surplus."

“The Chinese market is open to all countries, including India. We have sent many trade promotion delegations to India to buy Indian products, and we would like to see more marketable Indian products enter the Chinese market. We are ready to provide greater facilitation for India's participation at the China International Import Expo, the China-South Asia Expo, the Canton Fair and other platforms”, he said.

“China is also willing to help Indian companies cater to China's market demands and tap into the potential for commercial and trade cooperation.

“Last year, the Chinese diplomatic missions in India issued nearly 190,000 visas; over 80 per cent were business visas. Business travels in both ways is good for bilateral trade. We hope that India can also provide more convenience to Chinese businesspeople travelling to India for business opportunities," Xu said.

India-China trade continues to remain high despite bilateral tensions over the eastern Ladakh military standoff as the total trade last year climbed to a record USD 136.2 billion, with India’s trade deficit mounting to USD 99.2 billion, a tad lower than last year, according to the data released by China’s customs early this year.