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“India should relax visa requirements for Chinese”

KUFRI: “India should relax the stringent visa requirements for Chinese entrepreneurs and tourists for promotion of bilateral relations, trade and joint ventures,” said Peng Gang, the economic and commercial counsellor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in India, here on Tuesday.

He said although the Chinese had started Visa Facilitation Services in their country, the number of Chinese visiting India was far less than the Indians visiting China.

Mr. Peng was addressing a seminar in this tourist resort near Shimla on ‘The growth of Himachal Pradesh with experiences from China and economic cooperation’ jointly organised by the India-China Trade Centre, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Chinese Enterprise in India.

Claiming that bilateral trade was expected to reach $60 billion by 2010, he stressed the need to advance industry-to-industry relations and improve cooperation in the fields of steel, ferro-alloys, chemicals, information technology, plastics, petrochemicals and general trade.

Top officials of the India-China Trade Centre said though political clearance from the Chinese government was required for joint ventures with the State-owned companies from China, private entrepreneurs could do it without any government authorisation. There was no harm going in for economic and business cooperation despite the fact that Dalai Lama stays in Himachal Pradesh.

Mr. Liu Shu Jun, Chief Representative of Longjian Road Bridge Company, which is doing two road projects in India, said the company has installed infrastructural equipment worth $7 million in the past few days in the State.

Other Chinese speakers underlined the need for increasing border trade also.

China did not allow the Chinese Ambassador to speak in Himachal Pradesh, housing the Tibetan government-in-exile, said sources.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal also preferred to stay away due to unavoidable circumstances in the wake of the Naina Devi disaster on Sunday. Health Minister Rajiv Bindal represented the State government.

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