Indo-China biz alliance attracts 25 Chinese Cos

New Delhi, May 18: To promote knowledge special economic zones (KSEZs), biotechnology incubators, established hardware technology parks and telecom equipment manufacturing facilities in India, the India-China Business Alliance has attracted at least 25 Chinese companies.

The chamber has agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Shenzhen Computer Industry Association, Shenzhen Trade and Investment Association and Shenzhen Hitech Industrial Park, according to a statement issued by Assocham from Shenzhen today.

''About 10 Indian companies have already taken initiative for investing in Shenzhen particularly in R&D, biotech and software,'' Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

By 2025, India and China jointly dominate the world trade completely and there may be a situation that an international company can only survive in the West if it can market to India-China block, Mr Rawat said.

Earlier in Shanghai and Shenzhen, the chamber had inaugurated the India-China Business Alliance and it was decided to open yet another China Office in Shanghai.

Chamber's President Venugopal N Dhoot will visit Shanghai shortly to open a branch and also explore further business opportunities, it said adding that Union Bank of India also opened its branch yesterday in Shanghai.

According to the chamber's analysis on Indo-China trade, bilateral trade crossed the 25 billion dollar mark for the first time to reach 25.05 billion dollar in 2006, representing an increase of 33.87 per cent over same period last year.

During the period, Indian exports to China increased to 10.46 billion dollars while imports from China increased to 14.48 billion dollars.

As compared to growth rate of Indian exports to China 7.05 per cent, export from China to India increased by 63.23 per cent over 2005.

China's bilateral trade with India accounted for 1.47 per cent of its global trade in year 2006, as compared to 1.32 per cent in the same period of 2005.

India is now the 13th largest export destination of China, while Indian ranks in the largest exporters to China has fallen to 18th.

On a monthly basis, total trade in December 2006 reached an all time high of 2.66 billion dollar while Chinese exports touched an all time monthly high of 1.66 billion dollar. Indian exports also broke one billion dollar mark to touch 1.05 billion dollar.

UNI