India, China should set up new bilateral trade target of USD 100

President Xi Jinping has suggested to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that China and India should set up a new bilateral trade target of USD 100 billion by 2020 as Beijing is looking at importing nonBasmati rice as well as sugar to address the huge trade deficitPrime Minister Modi had detailed discussions with President Xi on bilateral and global issues on the sidelines Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO summit on SaturdayAddressing a press briefing after the ModiXi meeting the second in nearly six weeks Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that President Xi suggested to Prime Minister Modi that India and China should set up a new bilateral trade target of USD 100 billion by 2020The IndiaChina bilateral trade reached USD 8444 billion last year according to data of the Chinese General Administration of Customs in MarchThe bilateral trade in 2017 rose by 1863 per cent yearonyear to reach USD 8444 billion The two countries had earlier set a bilateral trade target of USD 100 billion by 2015Gokhale said that India has allowed Chinas stateowned Bank of China to open its branch in MumbaiThere were some discussion on trade and investmentrelated issues And in that context Xi told Modi that China is looking at enhancing agricultural exports from India including nonBasmati rice and sugar Gokhale saidAn agreement was signed between Chinas General Administration of Customs and Indias Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare on Phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China one of the worlds biggest rice marketsThe 2006 Protocol on Phytosanitary Requirements for Exporting Rice from India to China has been amended to include the export of nonBasmati varieties of rice from India At present India can only export Basmati rice to ChinaA couple of business delegations from India and the department of commerce have visited China in the recent months and it is hoped that this will lead to additional imports from India this year he saidThe Chinese side also said that it will encourage our pharmaceutical companies to register for highquality Indian pharma products in the Chinese market This was an important aspect from our perspective because we have been pressing for greater pharma exports into the country the foreign secretary saidIn response to the presidents suggestion for enhancing financial cooperation between the two countries and also helping trade the Prime Minister conveyed to President Xi Indias readiness to permit the Bank of China to establish its branch in Mumbai Gokhale saidChina has been promising to address the issue of trade deficit with India which has been seeking a greater market access for its goods and services in ChinaTrade deficit with China stood at USD 3673 billion during AprilOctober this fiscal Indias trade deficit with China has marginally dipped to USD 51 billion in 201617 from USD 5269 billion in the previous fiscalIndia has been pressing China to open the IT and pharmaceutical sectors for Indian firms to reduce the massive trade deficitCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever