According to meetings held mid-June this year between China and India’s commerce ministries, both sides are “confident” that their joint feasibility research on a regional trade agreement will be completed on schedule, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
The countries “fully” exchanged views and reached a consensus on goods and services trade, investment, facilitation of trade and investment and economic cooperation, and have agreed to meet again in August in New Delhi and wrap up the joint research by October as the leaders of both countries had required, it said.
China's vice minister of commerce, Yi Xiaozhun, said that if China and India could agree on a trade arrangement, the vast east and south Asian markets would receive a significant boost while Asian economic integration would be facilitated. The first four months have seen foreign trade between the two surging by 56.8 per cent over the same period last year, the highest of all the major trade partners of China, to $11.4 billion. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh initiated the joint feasibility research in April 2005. New Delhi and Beijing have each held such consultations twice.
These recent trade figures, while relatively small, do however indicate a huge increase over a very short period of time. As recently as six years ago, bi-lateral trade between China and India was a paltry US$3.6 billion. While a figure of US$11.4 billion does not do justice to the potential, the bell curve is graduated sharply upwards, with estimated China-India trade set to nearly double to US$20 billion by 2008 and to US$40 billion by 2010. Bi-lateral trade then it appears is very firmly back on track – and increasing.
Bilateral trade projected to scale to US$ 20 billion by 2008;
Bilateral trade volume is expected to surpass the target of US$ 40 billion by 2010;
Bilateral trade showed a high growth trend from 38.5 percent in 2001 to 79 percent in 2004.
