China sets up agency to promote investments with India

China is setting up a new trade body to promote and coordinate Chinese investments and businesses with India, a first such initiative taken by the government of the Communist country.

Chinese investments in India have crossed $4 billion till last year, China's vice minister for finance Yaobin said during India-China Financial Dialogue last month.

The council, being set up by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in China's Hunan province, will remain as a provincial unit for two years before being upgraded bon the basis of progress achieved, He Jian, chairman of Hunan sub-council of CCPIT, said in a communication to the media.

''My first important job on arriving at my new post is to establish China India Business Council,'' he said announcing the formation of the council.

The Council will be based in the office of the CCPIT in Changsha, provincial capital of the Hunan province, he added.

The council also plans to open offices in New Delhi and Hyderabad to promote and coordinate Chinese investments in India which are on the rise in recent years.

Bilateral trade between India and China stood at $71 billion in 2015-16, while the total export volume of China, the world's biggest trader, stood at $3.69 trillion (24.59 trillion yuan) in 2015.

Meanwhile, the Indian government in coordination with the various state governments is also conducting campaigns to attract Chinese investments.

In view of the growing trade deficit, India has been asking China to convert much of the trade surplus into investments.