Chinese professionals back in India on warmer ties

Kolkata | New Delhi: They are back, and in growing numbers. Chinese professionals are returning to India for business and market visits, as bilateral ties improve and New Delhi resumes issuing business visas. Executives from companies such as Oppo, Xiaomi, Shenzhen Transsion Holdings, Hisense, Haier, Midea and GMCC have travelled to India over the past two-three months, marking a revival after nearly six years. The frequency of visits are close to getting normalised to the levels before 2020, when India froze the issue of business visas to Chinese nationals following the Galwan border clash, people tracking the development said. The visitors included members of senior leadership, among them AC and home appliance manufacturer Midea Group vice-president Louis Zhao, president of its international business Lewis Fu and regional president Scott Fu.

Smartphone company Xiaomi's senior vice-president and head of international business Adam Zeng and global vice-president Alvin Tse also undertook extensive market visits. Others included Shenzhen Transsion Holdings founder and president George Zhu and vice-president Stephen Ha.

Transsion owns mobile phone brands such as Tecno, Itel and Infinix.


India remains a priority market for the Midea Group, and the recent visits by the global leadership underscore the group's deep, long-term commitment to the country, said Sanjay Mahajan, managing director of its local AC manufacturing unit, Carrier Midea India.

A Xiaomi India spokesperson said the visits reflected the headquarters' continued focus on India and confidence in opportunities beyond smartphones, including expansion of its ecosystem in the country.

Indian manufacturing firms such as Minda Industries of the NK Minda Group, JSW and Dixon Technologies have also hosted executives from Chinese partners in recent months, industry insiders said.

Ashok Leyland recently sought government approval to facilitate visas for a business delegation of its Chinese partners.

Industry executives expect the frequency of such visits to increase.

"Senior Chinese professionals across companies have resumed business travel to India with the easing of visa restrictions and the resumption of direct flights," said Kailash Lakhyani, founder-chairman of the All India Mobile Retailers Association, which represents more than 150,000 mobile phone stores.

"Further easing of policies will encourage companies to hold regional meetings and strategy sessions in India instead of Thailand, keeping business expenditure and professional exchanges within the country," he added.

Until recently, most engagements between Chinese professionals and Indian partners were held in Hong Kong, China or Thailand due to India's visa restrictions. While China continued to issue business visas to Indian professionals, India allowed only a limited number of engineering and technical visas to Chinese professionals in the last five years.