India, China private sector inks 129 MoUs ahead of Modi-Xi Jinping meet

A day ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, 129 memoranda of understanding were signed between the private sector of both the countries for exports of various products such as chemicals, plastics, pharma, and fertiliser.

At Ficci’s India-China Meeting and Signing Ceremony, Zhu Xiaohong, counsellor, Embassy of China, said the imbalance in trade in goods between the countries has been one of the factors troubling economic cooperation.

“To make it clear, China has never deliberately pursued trade surplus. China is fully aware that balanced trade is sustainable and beneficial to both sides,” she said.

India has time and again raised the issue of widening trade deficit with China, which stood at over $50 billion in 2018-19. It has also raised concerns that domestic sectors like information technology, agri, and pharma do not get fair market access in China.

The counsellor added that China’s trade surplus with India reduced by 1.6 per cent to $37.9 billion during the first eight months of 2019.