Govt. is working for sustainable trade relationship between India and China, says Shaktikanta Das

New Delhi [India], Feb 13 (ANI): Talking about sustainable trade relationship and balance of trade between India and China, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Monday said that the government is working towards increasing exports to China to balance a wide trade deficit and formulate a sustainable trade relationship. "We have trade deficit with China, and we would like to increase our exports to China," said Shaktikanta Das at meeting with the Chinese media delegation in New Delhi here today. "Our commerce and trade dept is working with China to increase our exports there. So that there is parity in trade with China," he added while saying that for sustainable trade relationship, balance of trade is required between India and China. He further said that the total trade between India and China in 2016 was USD 71 billion, and India had a very wide trade deficit of USD 46 billion. "We are focusing on transferring subsidies directly to the bank account of the beneficiary through DBT," he added. "Last time when I was in China, they showed a lot of interest in our Goods and Services Tax (GST)," added Das while discussing about GST, and how will it improve business environment and GDP growth. "We have simplified many procedures to increase 'Ease of Doing Business' along with making sure that clearances are given very quickly," he said. Adding to this he said that now in India, you can start a new company in just two days by getting online permissions. Chinese President during his visit to India in 2104, announced USD 20 billion investment in India, which has started to flow now. "We are looking for more inflow of investment from China. Our embassy is working closely with China for this," he added. "India is large, has diverse groups and is a democracy. So people are free to voice their opinions," he said. The Economic Affairs Secretary further said that India is very strong in IT software and Pharma. "Our pharma companies export to US, which has one of best quality standards. The pharma products can meet standards prescribed by China," added Das. (ANI)