China president Xi Jinping's India visit could set new paradigm in bilateral ties: Chinese officials

BEIJING: With economy and trade high on his agenda, Chinese President Xi Jinping's maiden visit to India tomorrow will be a historic one as it could set a new paradigm in bilateral ties and help realise Indian and Chinese dreams for development, Chinese officials and analysts said.

"President Xi is due to start a historic visit to India tomorrow. This visit is made on the height of historical relations between the two countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a media briefing here today about Xi's visit, which would begin from Ahmedabad.

Xi, 61, reportedly visited India in the 1990s when he was serving as a provincial official but this is his maiden visit to New Delhi after he took over as President last year emerging as the most powerful Chinese leader in recent times as he also holds the powerful posts of general secretary of the ruling Communist Party and head of the army.

"Xi's visit set a new paradigm in India-China relations as it brings together two of most powerful leaders of our two countries," Hu Shisheng, a research fellow at the state-run China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, attached to the Foreign Ministry, told PTI.

Xi is set to remain president for the next ten years. Largely described as a visit to focus on economic and trade issues, Xi is expected to announce large scale Chinese investments in railways, manufacturing as well as infrastructure rivalling Japan's $35 billion commitment made during Narendra Modi's recent visit to Tokyo.

Chinese officials say that the investment will begin with two industrial parks, one each in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The scale of investments China looks to make in India is projected anywhere between $100 billion to 300 billion in the long run.

"We stand ready to step up developmental cooperation with India and boost the development of global economy. We wish full success of the visit so that the bilateral relations can be brought to a new high," Hu said referring to reports about Xi's plans to commit billions of dollars of investments in India.