Sino-Indian trade shows downward trend, says Chinese envoy

HYDERABAD: Trade between India and China is currently at downtrend, but there is "huge potential" to explore economic and commercial cooperation between the two Asian giants, a top Chinese diplomat said today.

"At present, the Sino-Indian trade and mutual investment are on downward trend. During the first half of 2012, the bilateral trade volume amounted to $ 32.4 billion $, down 3 per cent over the same period last year.

"The investment from China to India was only $ 15 million, down by 37 per cent, and the project contract volume was less than $ 2 billion $, down 83 per cent," said Tian Xioqin, Secretary, Economic and Commercial Office, Chinese Embassy here.

India-China total trade in goods for year 2011 stood at $ 73.90 billion, recording an increase of almost 20 per cent over 2010. India's exports to China reached $ 23.41 billion, a growth of more than 23 per cent over previous year. China's exports to India for 2011 reached $ 50.49 billion, posting an increase of 23.50 per cent compared to 2010, according to official figures.

"However, I believe there is huge potential to explore China-India economic and commercial cooperation," Tian said.

The diplomat was speaking at a seminar on `Doing business with China - emerging business and investment opportunities for Indian companies, organised by CII.

It is safe to say that there are lots of common interests and massive cooperation potential between China and India, she said.

Some of the key areas of focus are expanding trade, promoting two-way investment, enhancing cooperation on construction projects and other fields like energy, fishing, agriculture, rural development and biotechnology, Tian said.