An India China-Jiaxing Business Seminar was organized by the Consulate General of India (CGI) in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Foreign Trade Economic Cooperation Bureau (FTECB)-Jiaxing at Jiaxing (Zhejiang Province) on 20 February 2008.

Consul General Riva Ganguly Das led one of the biggest multi-sector Indian business delegations, comprising of senior executives of leading Indian companies from the Eastern China Region including Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Reliance, Lupin Pharma, TCS, Infosys, NIIT, Thermax, Sundram Fasteners, State Bank of India, TATA Auto-comp, BEML, PNB, Canara Bank, ICICI, Axis Bank, UBI, EMCO, Jet Airways, Daga Chemicals & Elgi Equipments.

Conveying a signal of unequivocal support, the delegation was warmly received by Mr. Li Wei Ning, Mayor of Jiaxing.  He evinced a strong interest in deepening multifaceted cooperation with India.  Given the favourable policies of local government for attracting foreign investment, leading Indian companies including Sundaram Fasteners, Thermaxand Elgi (India) Equipments have set up manufacturing units in Jiaxing. Consul General extended an invitation to Mayor to lead a business delegation to India.

Jiaxing, which has been at the forefront of Zhejiang’s economic development, with a per capita income of $ 7747 is seen as one of India’s preferred partners in the Province. It has a strong foundation in core industries such as textiles, IT, auto-parts, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, machinery and paper making. India Jiaxing bilateral trade stood at $ 256 million in 2008, a rise of 8.7% over the previous year.  

In his opening address, Vice Mayor of Jiaxing Mr. Jiang Ren Huan, said that the joint initiative offered a unique opportunity for Jiaxing to engage India even more closely and assured Indian companies of his government’s unstinted support.Consul General Riva Ganguly Das in her key note presentation called for identifying specific new projects and developing success stories, delineating a series of sectors in which India and Jiaxing could cooperate. She called on Jiaxing companies to take advantage of the excellent investment climate in India. Select Indian companies made presentations of their specific business interests in Jiaxing.

A MoU of cooperation for exchange of delegation and promotion of closer business linkages was also concluded between CII & Jiaxing Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation Bureau (FTECB).

The exercise was aimed at providing Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs with a platform to forge new business alliances in engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, auto-components, IT and financial services sectors, as well as promote two-way investments. More than 60 Jiaxing companies besides government officials and media representatives participated in the Seminar. One-on-one meetings between Indian and Jiaxing companies followed, in addition to sector specific visits to leading industrial units in Jiaxing.  Significant business leads emerged during the two day event, which are being pursued actively.
     20 February 2009