Business on agenda, Wen rubbishes dragon versus elephant theory

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao started his two-day tour of India on a strong business note, announcing $16-billion trade deals and dismissing the perception of the ‘dragon’ versus ‘elephant’ rivalry between the two nations.

While pointing out that the 21st century belonged to the two Asian giants (India and China), the Chinese PM raised thorny issues like procedural hurdles in India for capital flow, bilateral trade and movement of people. Seeking to tap the full potential of two-way trade, Wen said the two countries must go beyond the traditional areas and expand cooperation in finance, tourism, energy and environment.

He urged the world community to hear the “voice of the developing nations”, while opposing trade protectionism. According to Wen, India and China can cooperate in successfully concluding the Doha round of WTO talks, and added that free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations must begin between the two nations. 

Wen said the fast economic growth in India and China is acting as an important engine for the world at large.

Wen’s first stop after landing in the capital on Wednesday was the India-China Business Cooperation Summit hosted by three industry chambers — CII, Ficci and Assocham. His official engagements will begin on Thursday and on Friday morning he will leave for Islamabad. He is here with a 400-member team, including a large number of mediapersons.

He is the third world leader after US president Barack Obama and French president Nocolas Sarkozy to visit India since November.
Stressing that his visit was a journey of friendship and cooperation, the Chinese premier said he disagreed with the media when they say that China and India were competitors and pitched them in a dragon versus elephant fight. 

“We are not rivals, we are partners in progress,” he said. Even the business community in China does not agree with the theory of competitors, he added.

“There’s room for both China and India to grow and develop,” Wen said. Both have vast markets, and the combined population of China and India is as large as 2.5 billion.

“We both stand to gain from cooperation and growth…We should open markets to each other,” he added.

While software, finance and medical care are among the strong points of India, manufacturing and infrastructure capacity are the areas where China leads, Wen said.

The strengths of the two nations are notably different, and therefore the mix would be quite unique. “We should draw upon each others strength to emerge as stronger nations together,” he added.

Returning to this country after a gap of five years, Wen said that India had changed for the better. “On my way from the airport to the hotel, I noticed that India has become more beautiful and orderly. And it has more vigour and vitality now.” 

Wen’s recipe for joint efforts:
1.    The potential for two-way trade between India and China must be fully tapped. Currently, it accounts for even less than one per cent of the total global trade
2.    China to seek greater access to areas like IT, agriculture, and pharmaceutical in India
3.    The two nations together must oppose trade protectionism. Should take steps to boost two-way investment
4.    Work on measures to ease the procedural bottlenecks for capital flow and people movement
5.    Expand areas of cooperation beyond traditional areas to finance, tourism, energy and environment protection
6.    Increase the number of direct flights between India and China
7.    Focus on greater exchanges between the two business communities. Setting up of a CEOs’ Forum likely