Wen for removal of trade barriers

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was today candid about the limitations of potentially the biggest economy in the world as he addressed the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Despite the average annual economic growth of over nine per cent in the last decade, Wen said China was a big ship and the country's policymakers had to find means to keep the sailing smooth in the coming years.

This, he said, was possible through more reforms and opening up of the economy.

Cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) into China in the last two decades was $561.4 billion and in the previous year alone, the country attracted $60.6 billion FDI. The focus will now shift to attracting more quality investment.

Some of the issues in China which merit attention are agriculture. "We should ensure supply of agriculture produce to the 1.3 billion people in China. We should also improve the farmers' incomes and give them greater access to markets," Wen said.

Among other areas of concern was the fact that 70 per cent of China's power are supplied by coal-fired plants and the demand for gas and oil has been soaring. "We produce 170 million tonnes of oil and import 120 million tonnes," he said.

Reforms were also needed in financial institutions like banks, Wen said. Plans to open up banks in terms of shareholding and corporate governance would be continued, he added.

Wen sought stronger ties with India through vigorous expansion of trade co-operation, and continued expansion and promotion of Sino-Indian trade in steel.

He also called for removing trade barriers and create an environment conducive for bilateral trade; and co-operation in hi-tech areas like space and marine.

The Chinese Premier said Beijing would tap India for its software skills while China's strength in hardware would be a good trade-off for India's software skills.