The Hindu Business Line : On Dragon business

If Credit Suisse is to be believed, the Elephant (or should we say Tiger?) will soon overtake the Dragon as the world's fastest-growing major economy on rising consumer and government spending.

We don't know though if that's going to make any difference to our 350 million poor, but the Chinese are definitely taking notice. Mao's The Little Red Book and revolutionary ideals seem to have been overtaken by `How to Make a Million $' and expansionist zeal.

During the recent international film festival in Goa, the lone Chinese delegate Chi (`Call me Jack') He (pronounced Hay) wanted to know why Indians communicated in English, how rural India lived, how we knew Arunachal was ours and so on and so forth.

After answering his queries as best as one could, I in turn asked him why the Chinese were learning English, and flooding the world with cheap (disposable) products.

Over the past few weeks, the country has received a couple of large trade delegations from mainland China, not to speak of a lively 36-member delegation (not counting the wives) from Taiwan led by the affable Lin Chin-Chao, Chairman, Taiwan Importers & Exporters Chamber of Commerce. The Taiwan delegation comprised CEOs of leading companies representing sectors like lumber, carbon steel, electronic components, ozone power supply, PVC plastic raw material, furniture, Chinese bean, coal, gypsum, iron slag, bauxite, agricultural chemicals, fertiliser, aluminium electrolytic capacitors, semiconductors, raw cotton/ blended yarn, marble, hardware and health food.

The All India Association of Industries, the Indian Merchants Chamber and the Guandong Sub-Council of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade have signed MoUs on the sidelines of the fourth China Products Exhibition organised by AIAI to enhance trade links.

Enter the delegates

More than 170 delegates and 150 companies from various provinces of Mainland China showcased their products across 40 categories. This government-backed exhibition of Chinese products in India is believed to be a significant step towards consolidating bilateral economic relations in the `India-China Friendship Year'.

The event featured a diverse portfolio: adhesive products, agricultural machinery, building, construction, interiors, chemicals, cosmetics, diesel engines and generator sets, electrical products, embroidered sarees, food and beverages, furniture, gifts, health and hygiene products, home appliances, industrial goods, leather products, shoes, toys, handicrafts, pottery, porcelain ware, carpets, lighting products, massage bathtubs, microscopes, motorcycles, scooters, pearls, pharmaceuticals, plastic machinery, plastic, rubber and telecom products, pumps, sanitaryware, sports goods, stationery, textiles and garments.

Guandong Sub-council chairman Yang Guo-cai hoped the exhibition would enable Chinese entrepreneurs to explore the vast Indian market potential and facilitate mutually beneficial partnerships.

The huge Guandong delegation was followed by a modest (six-member) delegation from the Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Hebei Province, which spoke very little English. But that seems to have mattered little given that China has become the fourth largest US export market, and run up record trade surpluses with that country.

The Hebei delegates were accompanied by a translator from New Delhi, a young Sardar who spoke wondrously fluent Chinese after barely a year's intensive study of the language at the University of Delhi. We are told that tremendous opportunities await Indian companies for close cooperation with Hebei in textile and construction machinery, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and so on.

Telling numbers

Jianjun Liu, Secretary General, Hebei Enterprise Directors Association, had some interesting facts to share. First, bilateral trade reached $13.65 billion in January-July 2006, representing an increase of 26.8 per cent over the same period last year. Second, India registered a trade deficit of $1.24 billion during January-July 2006 against a trade surplus of $1.42 billion a year ago. The trade deficit was on account of a massive increase in India's imports by 59.47 per cent to reach $7.45 billion during this period. India's exports at $6.2 billion registered a marginal increase of 1.81 per cent.

The recent visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao seems to have pushed Sino-Indian relations to a new high. Clearly, the two countries have a historical opportunity to accelerate their development, given Hu's five-point proposals for promoting bilateral trade. The first proposal is to promote trade diversification. Accordingly, India and China have set a goal of $40 billion bilateral trade by 2010.

Vijay Kalantri, President, AIAI says China is the second largest partner of India in the world. Over the years, AIAI has signed MoUs with not just the folks from Hebei and Guandong but also the Guangzhou Export Processing Zone, the China International Trust and Investment Corporation, the China Enterprise Management Association, Hong Kong Association of International Cooperation of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Yunnan Province Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, and the Yunnan Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Which brings us back to Chi (Jack) who said he'd like to see Indo-Chinese cinematic co-productions get off the ground. That sounds like chana in China to me, but since Mumbaikars have invented a heady dish called Chinese bhel, why not?

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