JOIN USTies beyond border issue
Le Yucheng took over as Beijing’s envoy to New Delhi just a few days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September 2014.
Le has an illustrious diplomatic career spanning over 29 years. In an interview with Anirban Bhaumik of Deccan Herald, Le, who is currently on a visit to Bengaluru, outlines his views about India-China ties. Following are excerpts from the interview:
How do you view President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last year and its significance in taking the China-India Relations to new heights?
Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to India last September. This was the second state visit by a Chinese President to India in the span of eight years.
President Xi was also the first head of state of a major country to visit India after the formation of a new government. President Xi not only took out time from his extremely busy schedule to visit India but also stayed there for three days; this clearly shows that China attaches immense importance to its relations with India.
The leaders of our two countries reached consensus on building China-India closer partnership for development, charted out a blueprint for development of our bilateral relations in the next five-ten years and opened up a new chapter for our relationship. During his first stop at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, President Xi tried his hands on a legendry Charkha, enjoyed a swing in a traditional Gujarati "jhoola" and celebrated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday.
The two leaders established a personal friendship through close interactions. The scene of thousands of people lining the streets of Ahmedabad to welcome President Xi gave me a long lasting impression and is still vivid in my mind. Having had the rare privilege of being appointed the Chinese Ambassador to India on the eve of President Xi’s visit, I have witnessed a rapid growth in China-India relations since the visit.
Nearly every sphere, including official contacts, local exchanges and civil interactions, is showing an upward trend. I receive various Chinese delegations visiting India almost every day. They not only visit the capital New Delhi, but also travel to Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur and other places. One can say that, President Xi's visit to India has ushered the bilateral relations in a boom era and took it to an important historical stage.
The year 2015 marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India. Right now the two sides are stepping up efforts to implement the outcomes of President Xi’s visit while preparing for a new round of high-level visits. We are working hard to expand our bilateral pragmatic cooperation in order to inject new vitality into the development of our bilateral relations.
Amity between people holds the key to the sound relations between countries. This year is being observed as the “Visit India Year” in China. Sushma Swaraj, Indian External Affairs Minister has visited China and launched the “Visit India Year”. The Indian government will organize a series of tourism promotion activities in China to expand personnel exchanges between our two countries.
China is ready to cooperate with India to promote greater development of the China-India relations in order to take them to an even higher level. I look forward to the prospects of the China-India relations with expectation and confidence.
How do you view External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s recent visit and proposed forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China?
Just a couple of days ago, Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of India, paid an official visit to China. This visit was her first visit to China since assuming the office last year, to which both sides attached great importance.
During the visit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have had an in-depth exchange of views with her on topics such as bilateral high-level visits, pragmatic cooperation, cultural exchanges and issues of common interests and both sides reached a lot of consensuses. It is particularly worth mentioning that both sides have agreed upon a package plan about the Yatra to the Tibet Autonomous Region of China through Nathula Pass.
We hope that this summer the first group of Indian pilgrimages will go through the new route to Kailash Manasarovar. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China this year is of great importance in our bilateral relations. The two sides are now in preparation for this visit. We hope the success of this visit will bring China-India Relations to a new level.
Could you please give us an update on the progress in implementation of the MoUs and agreements inked by India and China during President Xi Jinping’s visit in September, particularly on Chinese investment of US $ 20 billion in India over five years and setting up Chinese industrial parks in Gujarat and Maharashtra?
It is one of our major tasks to realize the 20 billion USD investments over the next five years in India which were announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last September. In order to reach this figure China needs to invest 4 billion USD annually on average.
It is not a hard task for China when seen in the light that China’s annual overseas investment is above 100 billion US dollars. As we know, during President Xi's visit to India, China and India signed 12 agreements on trade and economic cooperation, covering fields like industrial parks, railway, credit and leasing, with cumulative amount of investment and financing of 13 billion US dollars.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies like Huawei, Alibaba, Xiaomi are increasing their investments in India. I remember what Prime Minister Modi told investors: “There is no red tape but only red carpet in India.” Chinese entrepreneurs see huge opportunity in India and are scrambling to walk on India's red carpet.
Indian entrepreneurs are also optimistic about Chinese market. An Indian friend from West Bengal told me that it equally takes 2 hours by flight from Kolkata to reach Kunming in China and Delhi. It is very convenient for scores of Indian companies to do business with their Chinese counterparts. I am full of confidence for the future economic and trade cooperation between China and India.
I came to know that Indian Media and Indian people are keen to know the setting up of the two Chinese industrial parks. Here I would like to give a brief introduction. During President Xi’s visit to India last September, China Beiqi Foton Motor Corporation Limited and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation signed an MoU on supporting the setting up of Chinese industrial park in Pune, Maharashtra.
The total investment will be 5 billion US dollars in three phases by 2030. It is estimated to create one lakh jobs and an annual output of 20 billion US dollars. As of now, China has laid out 100 million US dollars initial investment and 20% of the land acquisition program has been completed. Similarly, China Development Bank signed an MoU with the Industrial Extension Bureau of Gujarat to set up a Chinese industrial park in Vadodara, Gujarat focusing on manufacturing electrical equipment.
The total investment will reach 1.8 billion US dollars by 2025. It will directly create 10,000 jobs and 40,000 jobs indirectly, with an annual output value of 5.2 billion US dollars. China has already made an initial investment of 150 million US dollars and 28% of the land acquisition plan has been finished. The first phase of a transformer plant has also been put into operation.
We hope that on the Indian side, respective state governments will provide as much support as possible for the development and construction of the two industrial parks by offering preferential policies and creating infrastructure facilities in a timely manner.
Could you please share with us the present scenario of China’s economic engagement in Bengaluru and rest of Karnataka and South India? How is China planning to augment investment and economic engagement with southern States of India? What more do you expect from the State Government to facilitate Chinese investment in Karnataka?
China's economic cooperation with south India is mainly taking place in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Some representative projects such as the Chinese Industrial Park in Pune which I previously mentioned, Huawei's new R&D center in Bengaluru and construction and equipment supply of the thermal power plants in Tamil Nadu amount to billions of dollars in investment.
In addition, Chinese railway companies are keen to participate in the metro rail construction projects in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and other major cities in south India.
The Chinese companies are choosing these south Indian states as investment destinations due to their comprehensive business environment, which include the initiative of local government to attract foreign investment, the transparency and efficiency of administrative examination and approval, the convenience of land and taxation policies, the quality of supporting infrastructure and the development level of downstream and upstream industries.
Not long ago, I read a news report that Bengaluru received US$ 2.6 billion in venture capital in 2014 and came in fifth in a list of cities globally. This attests to the growing attention being bestowed on Bengaluru by the global investors. It is worth mentioning that Chengdu of Sichuan Province, China and Bengaluru established sister city relationship in 2013, thus adding a new impetus to the local investment between the two countries.
As far as I know, the world famous Indian multinational IT consulting and System Integration services company Wipro, which is headquartered in Bengaluru, has established its Strategic R&D Center in Chengdu with a focused research on mobile phone operating system. Meanwhile, Huawei, a Chinese high-tech company has just established its biggest R&D center overseas in Bengaluru.
The two companies are leaders in their respective fields. They have also worked closely. Most of Huawei’s Android mobile phone operating systems are developed by Wipro in Chengdu, while Huawei mobile phones will be designed and developed at Huawei’s Bengaluru R&D centre. My visit to Bengaluru to attend the inauguration ceremony of Huawei’s R&D center also bears witness to this model of the China-India investment cooperation.
We encourage Chinese enterprises to carry out a wide range of economic cooperation with Karnataka and the rest of India. We also look forward to the local governments for providing as much support as possible to the Chinese enterprises on policy and information fronts, such as the introduction about the upcoming tenders related to infrastructure and investment projects, and appointment of a special official for the Chinese enterprises to coordinate on a series of problems like land acquisition, tax and labor encountered during the course of investment.
How do China and Chinese companies view Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign? Is it likely to intensify competition between India and China? Or, can China contribute to this Make-in-India campaign?
China and Chinese companies are glad to see the "Make in India" campaign launched by Indian Prime Minister, and believe that it is an effective strategy to ensure rapid recovery of Indian economy.
When I met with Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and in-charge of this campaign, I told him that the Chinese government will guide and encourage the Chinese enterprises to actively participate in the development of India's manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.
China started the policy of reform and opening up in 1980s and following the rapid development of its manufacturing industry has become "the world's factory". Objectively speaking, China and India are at different stages of development in the manufacturing sector.
China’s economic development has entered a “new normal” state, mainly marked by mid-to-high-speed growth instead of high-speed growth in the past. China’s current goal is to focus on improving the quality and efficiency of the economic development, keep the economic operation within a reasonable area, and put the transformation of the economic development model and adjustment of the economic structure in a more important position.
Thus, in the coming period, "Made in China" and "Make in India" will not form fierce competition in the international market.
On the contrary, we believe that the "Make in India" campaign will bring opportunities for expanding economic and trade cooperation between China and India. China has capital, technology, equipment and sophisticated manufacturing management experience.
We hope to make full use of the "Make in India" campaign to expand the Chinese investment in India. On the other hand, only with the development of India's manufacturing industry and the growth of Chinese investment in India can we fundamentally bring down the trade deficit and balance the bilateral trade.
How do you view Prime Minister Modi’s endeavours for economic reforms and his efforts to make the government’s policy friendly to investors? What more do you think Indian Government can do to encourage Chinese companies to invest in India?
In the last four months, I have witnessed various steps taken by the Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi towards good governance, reform and development. I can myself experience the rapid changes which are happening.
I have just been to the financial center of India Mumbai, now I have come to the “Silicon Valley of India” Bengaluru, both are so full of vigor and vitality nowadays that the new look of India's development and reform is already visible.
China sees India as one of the most important neighboring partners, and attaches great importance to bilateral cooperation. China and India are two largest developing countries and emerging markets in the world, with a huge population of over 2.5 billion.
Both countries are going through the crucial stage of national revival and facing the arduous task of ensuring overall development. However, the potential for bilateral cooperation has not been properly explored and our bilateral trade and investment volumes are not commensurate with the sizes of our respective economies. Both China and India need to join hands and work together to realize the untapped potential to bring tangible benefits to the people of our two countries.
Chinese companies are actively "going global". They are the main force to unleash the potential in China-India cooperation. I came to know that they are looking forward to changes of India’s investment environment in three major aspects.
First is the visa problem. As of now, most of the Chinese businessmen coming to India can only get single entry visas with the duration of 90 days. The conditions for issuing work visa to skilled workers are also very strict.
These not only bring inconvenience but also stall the expansion of Chinese enterprises’ investment in India. We really hope that in the light of the favorable visa policies adopted by some of the other countries towards the Chinese enterprises, the Indian government can also relax its visa restrictions.
Second is the security review. Chinese companies are willing to join the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects in India. We do have considerable advantages in the spheres of capital, technology, cost and construction experience, which are in line with the actual demand of India. But we often end up hitting the wall of security review.
I wish the Indian government provides equal opportunities to the Chinese companies to participate in a fair competition with the win-win spirit of mutual benefit.
Third is the improvement of the business environment, which include providing favorable policies towards foreign investment, improving the transparency and efficiency of the administrative examination and approval, expanding the scope of the policy of one-stop approval, simplifying and improving the policies of land acquisition, labor and tax, and improving infrastructure support such as water, electricity and waste disposal.
How can India and China boost people-to-people ties between the two great civilizations?
China and India are two ancient civilizations with more than 2000 years of friendly exchanges. The story of Xuan Zang (600-664), an eminent Chinese monk who came to India in search of Buddhist scriptures and stayed in India for 14 years during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) is a household name in China and India.
Last year was the ‘Year of China-India Friendly Exchanges’. The two countries held a series of colorful activities which impressed the two peoples deeply. This year is the “Visit India Year” in China. I believe the number of tourists between two countries will rise further. I have just been to Aurangabad and visited Ajanta and Ellora Caves.
A viewer is invariably overwhelmed by the beauty of these centuries old ancient treasures. India also has Buddhist shrines like Bodhgaya. "Incredible India" is very attractive for Chinese tourists.
In order to expand our people-to-people contacts, the two governments will launch The China-India Cultural Exchanges Plan this year. Firstly, the two countries will expand artistic exchange. We will celebrate the 2015 ‘Happy Chinese New Year’ by inviting well-known Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe to perform in New Delhi and Gujarat.
China will also participate in the Bharat Rang Mahotsav in Delhi and the Indian Arts Festival in Bengaluru. Secondly, both sides are going to strengthen youth exchanges. The number of annual youth visits will be expanded from 100 to 200 in the following five years. Thirdly, China and India will increase cooperation in the fields of film and television. We will hold film festivals in each other’s country.
Last year, China participated, as the ‘Special Guest Country’, in the International Film Festival of India, Goa. We will invite India as the guest country to participate in China’s film festival this year. Co-production of films by the two sides is also in the pipeline. I am a big fan of Bollywood movies. From ‘Caravan’ to ‘Three Idiots’, I am strongly touched by the charm of Indian movies.
Finally, China and India will promote academic, publishing and educational exchanges. We will speed up the project on mutual translation of the classical and contemporary literary works. China will be the Guest of Honour Country at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2016. There are 22 Chinese teachers teaching mandarin, calligraphy and dance in primary and secondary schools all over India.
And we are ready to send more. I was once invited by my counterpart Ashok Kantha, Indian Ambassador to China, to an Indian Culture Festival in China. The Indian dance performances by a group of Chinese teenagers are so wonderful that I initially mistook them as Indians. Yoga is also very popular in China. I wish to see further deepening of the cultural exchanges between our two countries, so that there will also be more and more Indian youth demonstrating their skills in Chinese Kongfu and calligraphy.
President Xi and Prime Minister Modi agreed to rebalance bilateral trade. Could you please share with us the measures taken so far to address the issue of trade imbalance?
China’s Central Economic Work Conference last year clearly pointed out that China is pursuing a rough balance of international payments by promoting the balance between domestic demand and external demand, between import and export and between foreign investment in China and Chinese investment overseas.
The Chinese side always prefers trade to be balanced, not imbalanced. China takes the Indian concern of trade imbalance very seriously. Although the main reason of our trade imbalance is the difference of industrial structures between our two countries, we are willing to provide opportunities to increase India’s exports to China.
Since 2008, the Ministry of Commerce of China has sent 6 trade promotion delegations to boost import from India. At the 6th Trade Promotion Matching Session during President Xi’s visit to India, entrepreneurs of the two countries signed Indian products procurement contracts of 780 million US dollars. We are also preparing to send more procurement missions to India and expand import from India this year.
Besides, China warmly welcomes Indian companies to expand trade with China through various effective trading platforms, such as China-South Asia Expo and China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair). In order to increase the popularity of the Indian products, China also welcomes various Indian chambers of commerce to hold product promotion events in China.
Solving the problem of trade imbalance requires joint efforts from both sides. On the other hand, we also need to recognize the upward trend of overall China-India trade. The bilateral trade volume has increased by 320 times in the last 10 years.
China hopes that India would ease restrictions on exporting its competitive products such as iron ore to China, reduce tariffs and encourage Indian companies to export more agriculture products. I believe that with the development of the Indian manufacturing industry and the improvement in international competitiveness of its products, India’s trade deficit with China will decline.
How does China view new Indian Government’s ‘Act East’ policy, as well as its renewed focus on engagements in its neighbourhood and, at the same time, New Delhi’s unenthusiastic response to President Xi’s call for building a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and cautious approach to the proposed BCIM economic corridor?
China and India are each other's important neighbours, two major developing countries and new emerging markets, and two mainstays in the process of world multi-polarization. Both the countries are undergoing the great historical process of national rejuvenation.
The harmonious coexistence, peaceful development and cooperative win-win of the Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant will not only deliver benefits to the 2.5 billion people of the two countries, but also bring prosperity to the developing countries, and will have far-reaching influence over the region and beyond. In this sense, China's "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" initiative and India's "Act East" policy can be linked up together so as to contribute more to the peace and prosperity of Asia and the world.
Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor is an important part of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" initiative. It provides a significant platform for the economic development and cooperation to the countries of the region and also serves the development of the Indian economy.
Currently, the BCIM Economic Corridor is progressing well, the third working group meeting will be held in India this year. China is willing to work together with all parties, including India, to jointly promote the construction of BCIM Economic Corridor, regional integration and economic development.
Has there been any progress in discussion on the boundary issue after President Xi’s visit to India? When can we expect the Special Representatives to hold the next round of talks on boundary issue? Can any progress be expected towards demarcating the Line of Actual Control to avert untoward incidents, when New Delhi and Beijing continue to discuss the boundary issue?
The boundary issue is a historical burden left by the western colonists. Through years of efforts, China and India have signed the political parameters and guiding principles for the settlement of the boundary issue.
Now, the two sides are working on the basic framework of its solution through friendly consultations. Both sides are keeping close contact for the preparation of next round of talks between the Special Representatives of China and India on the Boundary Question.
China is ready to work with the Indian side to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence and from the political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship. Pending the final settlement, the two sides should jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in border areas and prevent the boundary issue from holding up the overall development of bilateral relations.
In recent years, the two sides have properly handled the boundary issues through friendly consultations. In this process we have accumulated rich experiences and reached multiple consensuses on how to maintain peace and stability in this area.
The two sides signed an agreement on border defense cooperation, set up regular meeting mechanism between the two army headquarters, adjacent military commands and border troops, built additional border meeting points, established a hot line between army headquarters, made telecommunications available between front-line border troops etc. A code of conduct for border control is being discussed by the two sides right now.
I would like to point out that the connotation of our bilateral relationship is not merely the boundary issue but far beyond it. As long as both sides continue to draw wisdom from the two ancient civilizations, keep sufficient foresight, courage and tolerance, and expand positive aspects of bilateral mutually-beneficial cooperation, China and India will be definitely able to find a way to resolve our differences, and continually push forward the development of our bilateral relations.
How does Beijing view the renewed efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government to build civilian and defence infrastructure close to the Line of Actual Control between India and China, including in Arunachal Pradesh? Japan has of late offered India support to development projects in North-East and New Delhi seems to have accepted the offer. How does China view this?
The China-India boundary has never been demarcated and there exists immense dispute in the eastern section of the China-India border. It is a well known fact as well as a basic consensus between the two sides.
Both sides have always agreed that the boundary issue should not affect the development of bilateral relations. We are currently trying to find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution through negotiations. Pending the final settlement of the boundary question, we hope that the Indian side will refrain from taking actions in disputed areas that may complicate the question.
China firmly opposes any unilateral move to change the status quo in the disputed region, and also opposes the intervention of a third party because this would complicate the dispute. China is willing to make joint efforts with India to take forward the process of dispute resolution and control the dispute, to effectively maintain peace and stability in the boundary areas, and to create favorable conditions for a final settlement of the boundary issue and development of China-Indian relations.
You have already been in India for more than 4 months. How is the experience of working with the Indian government and people?
I feel greatly honored to witness President Xi Jinping's historic visit to India at the very beginning of my tenure. Participation in the important milestone events in the development of China-India relations gave me a feeling of immense proud. Just after I assumed my post, I paid a visit to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi.
In the following four months, I met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and more than a dozen ministers and high level officials at the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Human Resources Development and other government institutions.
I also visited Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra to interact and communicate with Indian friends from all walks of life. I received warm hospitality of my India friends wherever I visited, and deeply felt their heartfelt friendship for China and the Chinese people. I'm deeply encouraged and full of confidence on the future development of the China-India relations.
China and India are two large developing and neighboring countries. Both take development as their biggest strategic goal and have broad prospects for bilateral cooperation. I am confident that if we could further connect our development strategies and respective advantages, the impact would be far-reaching.
We would able to lead regional growth and promote development and prosperity in Asia. As Chinese Ambassador to India, I feel a heavy responsibility, because there is still a lot of work to be done for achieving this great goal.
In order to promote the China-India relations, I am willing to work together with my Indian friends from all walks of life, and will do my best to take the bilateral cooperation to a new level.