Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has urged China to buy larger exports of products like pharma, rice, and sugar from India. The commerce secretary also pushed for market access related issues for some of the Indian products such as milk, milk products, pomegranate, soybean, and okra in a bilateral meeting held with Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce Ministry of China. During the bilateral meeting, he also pointed out issues related to the Indian service sector and has underlined the importance to ease China’s business visa regime for Indian business travelers in China.
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“India has contributed immensely in shaping the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and has advocated an agreement that addresses the current trade imbalance,” said Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan to Hu Chunhua, Vice Premier, China, during the RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meet in Beijing. China has reaffirmed its commitment to address the trade imbalance, according to the Department of Commerce.
Anup Wadhawan also met ministers from other ASEAN nations, where he highlighted the importance of services trade which supports goods and investment. Further, he has urged Thailand to improve its offer in goods and services under RCEP. In the sidelines of the RCEP meeting, he sought market access for goods and services from Indonesia, for which the nation responded positively for consideration, according to the Department of Commerce.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was formed in November 2012 at the ASEAN summit in Cambodia. RCEP is aimed to provide free trade agreement between the ten member states and six FTA partners including China, Japan, South Korea, and India. The 8th Regional Intersessional Ministerial Meeting is being held in Beijing, China.