US behaving like a bully; China will firmly stand with India: Xu

Ahead of PM Narendra Modi's Tianjin visit to attend the SCO summit, Chinese envoy to India Xu Feihong on Thursday accused the US of behaving like a "bully" and said that while the country always benefited from free trade, it is now using tariffs as "bargaining chips".

Xu said "China will firmly stand with India", asserting that the two countries are double engines of economic growth in Asia.

"US has long benefited greatly from free trade but now uses tariffs as bargain chips to demand exorbitant prices from various countries. The US imposed tariffs of up to 50% on India, and has even threatened more. China firmly opposes it. In the face of such acts, silence only emboldens the bully. China will firmly stand with India to uphold the multilateral trading system with world trade."


He said that the international order is going through a big change, which is why, China and India as major developing countries, should be united and cooperate with each other. "China and India's friendship benefits Asia. We are the double engines of economic growth in Asia. India and China unity benefits the world at large," the envoy said.

Xu said all Indian commodities are welcome to enter the Chinese market and that both the countries should enhance "strategic mutual trust" and "avoid mutual suspicion", adding "Both countries are partners, not rivals. We should manage differences through dialogue..."

"We'll welcome more Indian goods to enter the Chinese market. India has a competitive edge in IT, software and biomedicine, while the Chinese see a rapid expansion in the fields of electronic manufacturing, infrastructure construction and new energy," said Xu. "If connected, the two major markets will produce an effect of one plus one bigger than two," he added.

Xu was speaking at a conference organised by Chintan Research Foundation and Centre for Global India Insights here.