India, China to strengthen trade, investment ties

NEW DELHI: India and China agreed to strengthen cooperation in trade and investment as they have a major stake in the path that the global economy is likely to follow in the coming years, an official statement said today.

At the third edition of the dialogue between the NITI Aayog and the Development Research Council of China (DRC), both sides exchanged views on policies and measures to address the challenges for attaining sustainable growth, it said.

The dialogue, being held in China, took place under the MoU between NITI Aayog DRC signed during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to that country in May 2015. The next dialogue will be convened in India in 2018.

The statement said that in-depth discussions were held on sharing of experiences and best practices in the areas of electric mobility, clean energy, higher education and special economic zones (SEZs).

"Both sides agreed upon the need to strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade and investment. The importance of pursuing balanced and sustainable bilateral trade was noted and opportunities for promoting Chinese investments in the Indian economy were highlighted," it said.

It further said that amid global uncertainty and weak economic growth India and China, as two large and rapidly growing developing countries, have a major stake in the path that the global economy is likely to take in the coming years.

The Indian delegation was led by NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar and Chinese delegation was led by President (Minister) DRC Li Wei.

On the sidelines of the Dialogue, Kumar called-on Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli, it added.