CHINA / National

Sino-Indian trade to top US$20b this year

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-04-17 17:19

The bilateral trade between China and its neighbor India is expected to exceed 20 billion U.S. dollars this year, and the figure may reach 100 billion dollars in six years, trade officials said Monday.

Addressing Sino-Indian Business Forum in Beijing, Wan Jifei, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), said the Sino-Indian trade totaled 18.7 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 37.5 percent.

India has become China's biggest trade partner in South Asia, while China is the second biggest trade partner of India.

Saroj Kumar Poddar, chairman of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, remains bullish about the prospects of the bilateral trade.

He told the forum that bilateral trade could reach 100 billion U.S.dollars six years from now and Indian investment in China may exceed 1 billion dollars within the coming five years.

By the end of last year, however, the actual investment from India in China was 122 million dollars, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Senior leaders of about 20 influential Indian companies took part in the forum, which was organized by the premiers of the two countries as part of the Year of Friendship between the two countries.

The Indian companies include India Cements Ltd., South Asia Petroleum Ltd., Moser Baer India Ltd. and Nucleus Software Exports Ltd..