SHANGHAI: India on Sunday secured an assurance from China that it will “seriously” address the unviable trade imbalance that gives it a US$ 16 billion surplus, even as it opened for the first time its market for Indian agricultural produce by allowing the maiden commercial consignment of mangoes.

The assurance has been conveyed to the President Ms Pratibha Patil by Chinese Premier Mr Wen Jiabao and was reiterated in this commercial capital of China by the Shanghai Municipal Communist Party Secretary Mr Yu Zhengsheng, Foreign Secretary Ms Nirupama Rao told reporters at the conclusion of the Indian leader’s discussions with the Chinese leadership.
Ms Rao said Mr Wen, whom Ms Patil had met in Beijing, had told he would “seriously” look into the trade imbalance issue and Mr Yu on Sunday said addressing trade balance was part of their long-term strategy.
In 2009, the trade imbalance tilted heavily against India. China enjoyed trade surplus of US$ 16 billion out of the total US$ 44 billion bilateral trade and its exports to India nearly touched US$ 30 billion last year. “...They have assured us that it is something they take very seriously and they understand that it unviable to sustain such trade imbalance in medium-term and long-term,” Ms Rao said.
On the penultimate day of the 6-day state visit, Ms Patil visited the India pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010, which has the world’s biggest bamboo dome, as a “unique example” of Sino-India harmony. She pitched for green technologies to ensure “good life” in cities and said the pavilion, which was built jointly by Indians and Chinese, was a “unique example of the harmony” between the two countries.
She also unveiled a statue of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore in honour of his visit to this eastern Chinese city that left a lasting impression on Chinese poets and writers.
Ms Rao said India has sent the first consignment of mangoes to China for commercial purposes. Indian officials said the country will “soon” export basmati rice. “There has been first consignment of Alphanso mangoes recently for commercial purposes and India did export mangoes in 2006 but that was only for promotional purposes, so this was for the first time a produce has been exported for commercial purposes,” Ms Rao said.
Mr Yu, also a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) politburo, told the President that huge trade surplus was not good and that it was going to encourage its companies to take more outbound activities, Ms Rao said.
Asked whether any concerns on anti-dumping were also raised, she said the anti-dumping investigations are on but the issue was not raised in Sunday’s meeting. She also said both India and China were engaged in consultations and discussions on these trade-related issues and with increasing trade between the two countries, the government ensures transparency and predictability to avoid any kind of protectionism. It also ensures corrective measures, Ms Rao said.
The President also said that Mr Yu, who was well-informed of India, was aware of the opportunities that exist in the country and emphasised that both countries should work together to achieve the target of US$ 60 billion by the end of 2010.
Giving details of the trade figure in Shanghai region alone, Ms Rao said there were more than 100 Indian companies and six banks in the region which contributes for over US$ five billion. During her talks with Mr Hu and Mr Wen, Ms Patil, the first Indian Head of State to visit China in a decade, had sought access to Indian pharmaceutical industry, IT and engineering companies.
Indian Ambassador Mr S Jaishankar said the embassy was conducting business meets and presentations in 17 different Chinese cities to create awareness about its pharmaceutical industry, IT and engineering companies. “Out of 17, we have already conducted three such meets,” he said. Mr Yu identified areas like science and technology for cooperation between the two countries