India, China agree to beef up economic cooperation

India and China today agreed to deepen bilateral investment cooperation, further open up their markets to each other, and improve the bilateral investment environment.

This was the first outcome of the newly-instituted India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) forum, which met in Beijing. The Indian side was led by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia; while the Chinese team was headed by National Development and Reform Commission chairman Zhang Ping.

Indian officials told the media that the outcome was very positive. According to the minutes of the meeting circulated after the conference, the forum laid a solid foundation for pragmatic cooperation between business in the two countries on the basis of complementarities, mutual benefits and win-win outcomes.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation on energy efficiency, ecological conservation, and environmental protection.

Enhanced exchanges in these spheres would be the new engine for greater cooperation between the two sides, the minutes said.

In his opening address, Ahluwalia said India and China share many things in common.