NITI Aayog officials to learn from China story

Discussion with China's Development Research Commission will mark the first official-level consultation on broad economic policy issues between India and China

Top officials from NITI Aayog lead by its vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya will engage in a dialogue with its Chinese equivalent, the Development Research Commission (DRC), next week with an aim to conduct joint studies on economic policy research and development planning.

This will mark the first official-level consultation on broad economic policy issues between India and China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been an admirer of the Chinese model of growth and visited the country in the first year of his prime ministership. Chinese President Xi Zinping also visited India just months before that.

The DRC in China functions under the overall supervision of the State Council, which is a council of all state governments, and acts as a policy research and consulting institution. Li Wei, president of the DRC and Zhang Laiming, vice-president, will participate from the Chinese side.

Its major function is to conduct advanced research on strategic and long-term issues in economic and social development, as well as problems related to reforms. It provides policy options and consulting advice to the Central Committee and the State Council.

The DRC since its inception has conducted in-depth studies on issues related to national development. In its earlier avatar, the Planning Commission, too, had entered into an agreement with the Chinese government for cooperation on macroeconomic issues.

According to the draft agenda of the consultation, NITI Aayog and its Chinese counterpart will discuss issues related to global economic restructuring, implications of regional trade associations for India and China, and strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries.

China, which touts itself as a manufacturing hub, has focused on industrialisation over the last few decades through a combination of policy initiatives and measures.

When the Planning Commission was scrapped and replaced by NITI Aayog, there was talk among experts that it might be modelled on the lines of China's National Development and Reform Commission. The National Development and Reform Commission has a broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy and is also sometimes referred to as the number-one ministry. It has 26 functional departments with around 900 civil servants.

KNOWING DRC

• DRC functions under the supervision of State Council, which is a council of state govts, and acts as a policy research and consulting institution
  

 

Its major function is to conduct advanced research on strategic and long-term issues in economic and social development, as well as problems related to reforms