China hopes Modi’s arrival boosts Chinese entrepreneurs,investors
Beijing: China on Friday bid farewell to outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, praising his "unremitting efforts" to improve Sino-Indian ties. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing in Beijing that China valued ties with India as it is Beijing's close neighbour and the relationship in recent years has progressed with steady momentum.
Hua praised Singh's contribution for the establishment of India-China strategic cooperative partnership. Singh's unremitting efforts made an important contribution to the development of close relations between the two countries and the Chinese people widely respect him for that, Hua said in e-mail response to questions from PTI.
She specially praised Singh's proposition that the "world has enough space to accommodate China and India", which she said won wide recognition. During Singh's tenure China and India reached agreement on the political guiding principles to resolve the border issue through amicable negotiations in order to seek a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both sides and to jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border, she said.
"The Chinese side expresses its appreciation for the contribution made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for Sino-Indian relations," she said. The two sides also concluded a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) last year to deal with issues relating to patrolling of the disputed border to avert tensions. Li, an Indian specialist who studied in India specialising in China-India ties, said Modi's victory reflects India has a national consensus on putting development as the strategic priority.
"In this sense, I think there is a great potential for further economic cooperation between China and India. Since Modi is committed to boosting infrastructure and manufacturing, on which China is strong and experienced. I believe many Chinese enterprises and investment will see it as a great opportunity," she said.
"Since India will have a strong new government, if Modi can push forward some reforms to make the Indian market more open and friendly to FDI including the Chinese investment, I think Chinese investment is definitely ready," she said.
"On the political front, of course there is a chance for a step forward, because a strong government can make a bold decision," Li added. However, she said that the border dispute is so complex that patience is still very important.
"Only when it is accepted by not only the two leaderships but also the two peoples can a solution be reached. So there is still a lot of work to do for the two governments," she said.
