Ahmedabad, 17 September 2014

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed signing of three MoUs at Ahmedabad’s Hotel Grand Hyatt today:

1.Sister province state relation between Guangdong and Gujarat state MoU signed by Gujarat Chief Secretary from Indian side.

2.Sister city relation between Guangzhou and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation signed by Municipal Commissioner Thennarsan from Indian side.

3.MoU in industrial sector between China Development Bank Corporation and Indext-B(Industrial Extension Bureau) signed by Mamata Verma who heads Indext-B from Indian side.

The third MoU in industrial sector is about extending support to Industrial park project in Gujarat.

Captains of Gujarat’s top industrial and business groups, Chief Minister of the state and ministers were present during the MoU ceremony among others.

Full report

India and China have strong history of 2000 years in the areas of religion, culture, trade and industry. Both countries share commonalities in their heritage and culture. China and India are now front runners for becoming strong economies of the world.

The delegation led by the former Chief Minister of Gujarat, and present Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi visited China in 2011 and conducted successful meetings with top Chinese political leaders, representatives of industry associations and leading industrialists. Smt. Anandiben Patel, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat recently inaugurated the ‘Green Energy Park’ in 2014, which has been set up by TBEA near Vadodara to manufacture power generation equipment. A Chinese delegation led by the Chinese Ambassador also visited Gujarat in July 2014 to strengthen trade and investment between the two regions. This was followed by the visits of other Chinese delegations.

To further bolster the relations between the two Asian giants, the Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping is leading a high powered delegation to India, comprising of top ministers, bureaucrats and industrialists. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi welcomed Mr. Xi Jinping during his visit to Gujarat.

A function held at Hotel Hyatt in Ahmedabad witnessed signing of three Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in presence of the Chinese President and Indian Prime Minister, as well as dignitaries from China, Gujarat and leading industrialists.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed establishing ‘Sister Province’ relations between Guangdong, China and Gujarat, India. The MoU covers cooperation in economy and trade, environmental protection, public policy education, health, science and technology, tourism and culture.

Through this MOU, both the sister provinces will also extend mutual cooperation in the fields of sports, youth affairs, urban planning, waste water management, infrastructure, environment, public health and exchange of economic and trade delegations.

On the same lines, a MOU was signed between the cities of Guangzhou, China and Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India for closer cooperation between the local authorities of the two cities. This will facilitate engagements in the fields of economy and trade, environment protection, public policy, education, health, science and technology, tourism and culture. Knowledge sharing will be done through delegation visits, institutional meetings and sharing of experiences in areas of mutual interest.

China Development Bank has taken the lead in encouraging Chinese investors in Gujarat by extending credit to set up industrial parks and factories within such parks. A MOU was signed between Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb), the nodal agency of Government of Gujarat for investment promotion, and China Development Bank, under which iNDEXTb will assist Chinese investors in obtaining required clearances and creating infrastructure facilities in the industrial parks. Chinese investors will set up manufacturing units in the electrical, electronics, plastics and other sectors in these industrial parks. This will help promote domestic industry, as local companies will have the opportunity to become suppliers to the Chinese manufacturing units. It will also encourage adoption of new technology by local firms and reduce imports. Citizens will benefit from increased employment and availability of goods at lower prices. Under this MOU, iNDEXTb and CDB also agreed to facilitate interactions between manufacturing companies and industry and trade associations of China and Gujarat in investment promotion activities.