India asks China to address trade imbalance

India’s MSME sector is poised for a major leap driven by the high growth with high level of innovation and seeks a long term partnership with Chinese entrepreneurs and investors especially in areas like IT and digital, mobile components, automobile ancillaries, MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra said in Guangzhou on Monday. He made the remarks at the China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair (CISMEF). India co-hosted the CISMEF, 2016. 

A host of Indian enterprises took part in the fair. Mishra said immense opportunities exist for cooperation between the SMEs of India and China for mutual benefits especially under the rubric of ‘Make In India’ initiatives launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi government has taken several initiatives to augment the growth of manufacturing sector in India like ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Startup India’ and ‘Stand up India’, which have made the world’s economic super powers to look at India with a lot of admiration, an Indian Consulate statement quoted Mishra as saying. 

During his meetings with Chinese officials, Mishra also raised India’s concern of the huge imbalance in trade figures and urged Chinese interlocutors to work with India to reduce this deficit in the interest of sustainable bilateral trade, the statement said. Last year, the imbalance was claimed to be USD 46 billion in China’s favour in over USD 70 billion bilateral trade.