Shanghai: On the third and final leg of his three-day China tour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met 22 CEOs of top Chinese companies on Saturday, including Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Xiaomi’s Lin Bin.
Indian and Chinese firms signed 21 agreements officials said were worth a total of more than $22 billion.
In Shanghai, Modi pitched for ‘Make in India’ agenda and asked Chinese business leaders to manufacture their products in India. “I have come to say to you Make in India,” Modi told the Chinese CEOs.
PM also talked about what he called the “5F Formula – From Farm to Fibre to Fabric to Fashion to Foreign.”
Modi further said, “India and China can together give something to the world.”
“While India has always been a knowledge society, you have been an innovating society. I strongly believe that this century belongs to Asia,” Modi told the Chinese CEOs.
Calling for a ‘harmonious partnership’ between India and China, Modi said it was essential for economic development and political stability of Asia.
Modi said both India and China have potentials of growth and problems of poverty “which we can tackle together. I am personally committed to take the co-operative process forward”.
Highlighting the significance of need of a sound relationship between two of Asia’s major economies, he said: “Harmonious partnership between India and China is essential for economic development and political stability of the continent.”
He further said: “This industrial partnership of China and India can bring about greater investment, employment and satisfaction of our people.”
Asking Chinese companies to take the “historic opportunity” to invest in India, Modi said: “We have committed ourselves for creating and improving the business environment. I can assure you that once you decide to be in India, we are confident to make you more and more comfortable.”
Many Chinese companies have the possibility of investing in India to take advantage of India’s potentials. The potential lies in manufacturing, processing as well as in infrastructure, he added.
Highlighting the steps taken up by his government to improve ease of doing business, he said: “We are making the taxation system transparent, stable and predictable. We have removed lot of regressive taxation regimes.”
“Let us work together in mutual interests,” Modi told executives from 200 Chinese and Indian companies at the signing ceremony. “Now India is ready for business.”
China is India’s biggest trading partner with two-way commerce totalling $71 billion in 2014. But India’s trade deficit with China has soared from just $1 billion in 2001-02 to more than $38 billion last year, Indian figures show.
Indian embassy trade counsellor Namgya Khanpa said the 21 agreements signed at the Shanghai event were “worth over $22 billion”, with another five exchanged earlier.
A list circulated by Indian officials showed many of the contracts were for Chinese banks to finance Indian firms, and also included deals in the telecom, steel, solar energy and film sectors.
Assuring Chinese business leaders that India’s economic environment has changed, Modi said: “Our regulatory regime is much more transparent, responsive and stable. We are taking a long-term and futuristic view on the issues. Lot of efforts have been made and are still underway to improve the ease of doing business.”
Modi said the government has also rationalised a number of issues which were bothering the investors, and added “we do believe that FDI is important and it will not come in the country without a globally competitive business environment”.
Recalling the economic exchanges between the two nations in the past, the Prime Minister said: “Indo-Chinese partnership should and will flourish. I expect very good outcome from this coming together. We have complemented each other in the past. We can complement in the present and future too.”
Modi said like China, India also wants to promote manufacturing in a big way particularly to create jobs for youth who form 65 per cent of the population.
“Hence, we want to Make things in India. For this purpose, we have launched a campaign called ‘Make in India’…We have to learn from you about the development of labour-intensive industries, creating conditions for sustainable foreign direct investment, skill development, infrastructure creation and export-led development model.”
Modi, who is on a three-day visit to China, met with a group of CEOs of top Chinese firms, included heads of Alibaba, mobile phone company Xiomi and several other successful companies.
“We are excited about India. We are excited about Make in India and Digital India,” Jack Ma of Alibaba said to Modi.
“We have some big plans for India, We fully support Make in India,” President of Xiaomi, Lin Bin to PM.
On Friday, India and China had signed 24 cooperation documents in the presence of Modi and his counterpart Li Keqiang covering railways, mining, education, space, quality supervision and inspection, film and television, ocean and earthquake science.
