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Kolkata, June 21 The Indian Government should try to ease visa norms and the grant of working visas to Chinese labourers, the Chinese Consul General, Mr Mao Siwei, said here on Saturday. Currently, Chinese workers get only a business visa and the visa regulations permit a Chinese labourer to stay in the country for a maximum tenure of six months.

“The regulations require these employees to be sent out of India once in three months and again sent on a long holiday to China for the renewal and reapplication of the visa. This escalates the cost burden on the employer,” Mr Siwei, speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of an interactive session on “India-China Bilateral Relation” organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, said.

The Consul General expected 20,000-30,000 visas to be issued on an annual basis. The presence of Chinese companies in India was visibly less than that of their Indian counterparts in China, he remarked.

According to figures given by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, there were about 60 Chinese companies having their branches in India. Chinese investment in India was at about $50 million.

The Ministry further estimated that the number of Indian non-financial projects with direct investment in China was 354, with a total contract amount of $716 million as of March 2008.

Mr Siwei identified steel and tyre manufacturing as possible areas inviting Chinese investment. He, however, declined to give further details about the investment and said the process was still in the pipeline.

Talking about the Sino-Indian bilateral ties, Mr H.V. Patodia, President, Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, said: “Bilateral trade in 2003 stood at only $7.6 billion, which has jumped up to $38.7 billion in 2007.”

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Chinese Consul General urges Govt to ease visa norms

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