Changing India-China narrative: Chinese envoy invokes economic opportunity

Rejecting the narrative of China’s so-called “economic slowdown, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong has made a strong pitch for closer economic ties with India, arguing that the new reform agenda outlined in the Third Plenum has created fresh economic opportunities for Indian companies.

“The Indian media worries about China’s so-called “economic slowdown.” In fact, the Chinese economy has maintained a positive recovery, with GDP growth of 5% in the first half of 2024,” the Chinese envoy has written in an opinion piece published in Mint.

Alluding to the recent Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the envoy argues in the article that “in a world where countries are interdependent, China, India and the world share a common future.” “China wants to develop well for itself, and hopes India will develop well too,” he said.

The Chinese envoy’s economic outreach amid the Ladakh border standoff signals Beijing’s intent to normalize ties with India by projecting win-win opportunities in the economic arena. This economic pitch coincides with a rethink among India’s economic planners about re-opening doors for Chinese investment in India.

The 2024 Economic Survey of India has advocated increasing investments from Chinese enterprises to increase exports as a viable way to curb the massive trade deficits that India has with China. India’s trade deficit with China, at over $100 billion, has reached an all-time high. “To boost Indian manufacturing and plug India into the global supply chain, it is inevitable that India plugs itself into China’s supply chain. Whether we do so by relying solely on imports or partially through Chinese investments is a choice that India has to make,” the Survey stated.

“India has two options for benefiting from China plus one strategy: integrate into China’s supply chain or promote foreign direct investment (FDI) from China. Of these options, focusing on FDI from China appears more promising for increasing India’s exports to the US, as East Asian economies have done in the past,” says the Survey. “Choosing FDI as a strategy to benefit from China plus one approach appears more advantageous than relying on trade.”

In his article, the envoy has signalled China’s intent to increase investment in India. “China remains an attractive destination for foreign investment. In the first half of 2024, China attracted nearly 500 billion yuan in foreign investment. We are willing to share large opportunities with Indian and other foreign enterprises,” he writes.

“Chinese modernization is a pioneering cause. Under the leadership of the CPC, we are confident of realizing our reform targets and creating more economic opportunities for the rest of the world,” he writes.

India, China development opportunities

Enhancing trade and investment is part of China’s broader approach to normalize relations with India. The envoy’s optimism about the future of India-China relations follows two meetings between the foreign ministers of the two countries in Astana on the sidelines of the SCO summit early July and in Vientiane on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit.

“We are willing to work with India to implement an important consensus between our two countries’ leaders that “China and India are not each other’s threat, but cooperation partners and development opportunities,” bring China-India relations back on their track of steady and sound enhancement, and realize our shared dream of development and revitalization,” writes the envoy.

This is the second article penned by the Chinese envoy in a week. In an earlier article in The Hindu, the envoy wrote about the Five Mutuals – mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual accommodation and mutual accomplishment – and argued that they should also be the guiding principles for the two big neighbours to get along well. “We could work together for peaceful coexistence and insist on resolving disputes in a peaceful manner. With political trust, not even the Himalayas can stop us from strengthening friendly exchanges,” he wrote.

But right now, the Himalayas are coming in the way, with the two sides still trying to end the over four-year-old deadlock in Ladakh. The Chinese envoy, however, hopes that by bolstering mutual trust and following the Five Mutuals, India and China can turn a new page in their stressed bilateral relations.

Author Profile

Manish Chand

Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.