A 9-member delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) headed by Mr. Sanjay Budhia, Chairman of CII National Committee on Trade Policy and Managing Director of Patton International Ltd, is on a CEO Level Business visit to China. The delegation will visit Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai from 31^st July to 3 August 2007. The objectives of the mission are to interact with Chinese companies to explore business opportunities for Indian companies, to identify new emerging technologies and possible areas of cooperation and to interact with government officials to support the ongoing India-China Strategic Cooperative partnership. The delegation is supported by the Embassy of India in Beijing and the Indian Consulate in Shanghai.

The members of the delegation comprise Mr. Arvind Jain, MD, Bhilai Engineering Corporation Ltd; Mr. Harsh K Jha, MD, Tata Metaliks Ltd.; Mr. Sandipan Chakravortty, Deputy Chairman of CII (ER) and MD of Tata Ryerson Ltd.; Mr. Ramavtar Agarwal, Vice President (Steel), Texmaco Ltd.; Mr. Bhusen Raina, Immediate Past Chairman of CII (ER) and MD of The Tinplate Co. of India Ltd.; Mr. Sumit Goyal, Vice President, Patton International Ltd.; Mr. Sunil Misra, Regional Director, CII (ER) and Mr. Madhav Sharma, Director & Chief Representative, CII (China).

The CEO Mission is focusing on steel trade between the two countries. The mission visited the Nanjing Iron & Steel Co Ltd and will have several interactions with Steel companies like Jiangsu Dongsheng Metal Material Co., Ltd; Nanjing Aibang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd; Jiangsu Federation of Industry and Commerce Steel Commerce Chamber; Meishan Steel and Iron Co., Ltd; Jiangsu Shagang Steel Group Co., Ltd; Jiangsu Overseas Group Co., Ltd. In Shanghai, the delegation will visit the Boa Steel Plant.

 While comparisons of the Indian and Chinese economic performances and their shares in world market in various sectors continue unabated, close economic cooperation between the two countries in recent years represents a significant development. The CII CEO's Delegation to China will certainly endeavor to further promote the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

India-China bilateral trade reached about US$ 25 billion in 2006. The trade missions have played an important role in achieving the trade targets set by the two governments. The business community of India is keen to identify the key opportunities to enhance business ties with the Chinese economy.   In past few years, the networking between the businesses of the two countries   has led to rapid increase in bilateral trade. According to a CII study, in view of India's dynamic comparative advantage, special focus needs to be given to investments and trade in services and knowledge-based sectors, besides traditional manufacturing. CII Survey in 2006 also pointed out that building Brand India in China is very important to boost India's export to China. The CEO's Mission to China is a major step in achieving that objective.

Sourced From: Confederation of Indian Industry