China, India talk trade gap today

Commerce ministers of India and China meet here today amid concerns in New Delhi over the growing bilateral trade gap between the two Asian powerhouses which is heavily tilted in favour of Beijing.
Indian Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma will meet Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming for the ninth session of India-China Joint Economic Group (JEG).
The Indian side led by Sharma is expected to raise the issue of growing trade deficit, issues related to greater market access for Indian information technology and IT-enabled services and agricultural products to Chinese market, officials here said.
Exports of pharmaceutical products, diamonds and seafood from India to China, investment- related issues and imports of Indian films by China are also likely to come up for discussion, they added.
The Chinese side is likely to bring up ways to strengthen cooperation in trade remedies and service trade.
The border trade issues between India and China and ways to improve investment and operation environment for Chinese enterprises in India are also likely to figure at the meeting.
Chen's visit comes against the backdrop of growing anxieties in India about a widening trade deficit, which is set to expand further this year with exports to China falling by a record 8 percent last month.
Also, there are concerns in China about moves by New Delhi to impose import duties on power equipment and restrict imports of certain kinds of telecom hardware due to security concerns.
At the previous round of trade talks held in Beijing in January 2010, Sharma had made a strong pitch for China to increase imports of Indian pharmaceutical products and IT to help narrow the trade imbalance.
Bilateral trade between India and China for the financial year 2011-12 stood at $75.45 billion compared to $59.36 billion in the previous year.
In fiscal 2011-12, India's exports to China stood at $17.98 billion while imports were worth $57.44 billion.
The provisional trade deficit for 2011-12 stood at $39.46 billion.