India, China plan FTA breakthrough

India, China plan FTA breakthrough

What has happened?

Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and his Chinese counterpart, Zhong Shan, met here on Monday for the first high-level contact between both sides that decided to “reset” their ties this year in the run-up to a Xi-Modi summit meeting in China.

Background

1th meeting of the India-China Joint Group on Economic Relations, Trade, Science and Technology (JEG)

Improving economic ties with China

Growth in bilateral trade:In 2017, the bilateral trade reached $84.4 billion, registering a growth of 20.3% from the year before and a record high

Import with China increased:China’s import from India soared by 40%, helping ease the bilateral trade imbalance

Consensus Reached in the meeting on following points

Mutual co-operation on OBOR and Indian development initiatives: The two sides would jointly promote the synergy between China’s Belt and Road initiative and India’s development strategies, including the “15-year Development Agenda”, “Make in India” and “Digital India” to deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation and share development experience

Promotion of Indian exports to China: The two sides would promote India’s exports to China so as to address the trade imbalance between the two countries

Special Working Group: The two sides agreed to set up a special working group to draw a road map for developing two-way trade

RCEP agreement:Both sides would demonstrate flexibility to reach at an early date a modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial RCEP agreement of high standards.