Chinese team scouts for business with India

A visiting delegation from China's Tianjin region, located near Beijing, is exploring opportunities to do business with Indian firms in diverse sectors.

"We want to strengthen cooperation with India by participating in each other's trade fairs and exchanging delegations," Li Fuming, a senior official of the delegation, said at a symposium on India-China trade and investment promotion here Tuesday.

The symposium was jointly organised by the Tianjin Commission and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The region, governed by the Chinese government as one of the four directly controlled municipalities in the mainland, is looking for business in areas like infrastructure, manufacturing, electronics and computer peripherals.

"Our Commission and CII have to cooperate more to promote matchmaking between Indian and Chinese firms," Li said on the occasion.

Calling for synergies between the two nations, Chinese ambassador to India Le Yucheng said the two could bring about a transformation in the way global business was conducted.

"Tianjin is a major economic hub in northern China with many outstanding enterprises," Le said at the joint session.

Commerce and industry joint secretary B.S. Bhalla told the visiting delegation that there was a huge scope to widen the trade basket between the two countries.

"As India exports low-value added products to China and imports Chinese electronic goods and transport equipment, there is tremendous scope for Indian firms to benefit from China's growth in sectors like auto components and IT hardware," Bhalla said.

Tianjin Commission deputy director Li Shengli said the region's trade with India rose 16 percent in 2014 and holds more potential for growth.

CII director-general Chandrajit Banerjee said the Indian firms should invest in China across key sectors, including pharma, IT (software), tourism, media and entertainment and auto components.

"At the same time, there is a need to promote Chinese FDI (foreign direct investment) in critical sectors like power equipment, telecom equipment and infrastructure. We can also be a source for intermediary goods in China," Banerjee added.