3 working groups set up to boost trade with China

New Delhi: India and China have set up a working group to consider co-operation over five years in various strategic sectors, including investment, a senior Government official said on Thursday. The working group is among the three set up to boost bilateral trade. “The working group will look at investment of Chinese companies in Special Economic Zones and National Investment and Manufacturing Zones. It is looking at larger participation. We are looking at China, Japan and Korea not only for trade in goods, but services and investments, too. These two aspects will be handled by the two working groups. The contact points have been nominated and they are likely to meet in February,” said Asit Tripathy, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce. The working group on trade statistics anomalies has been set up to see how the Chinese side values trade at $27 billion, while India pegs it at $40 billion during 2010-11. Tripathy said this sub-group would examine the modalities employed by both sides to calculate trade. On the volume of bilateral trade, the official said this year trade with China had decelerated.