India should seek greater market access from China in sectors such as IT, drugs and pharmaceuticals, and media and entertainment by insisting on removal of various non-tariff barriers, industry body CII has said.
In a memorandum submitted to the government prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s China visit this week, CII said India should take urgent steps to address concerns faced by Indian companies in China to increase exports and reduce the trade deficit which touched $48 billion in 2014-15.
In the IT sector, the memorandum pointed out that Indian firms have had limited success with contracts from state owned companies (SOEs) in China. This is largely due to their inability to meet qualifying norms and certifications needed to bid for such projects and some other local restrictions.
CII called for a level playing field for Indian IT companies and suggested identification of select joint pilot projects and joint development of an information platform for business development and academic cooperation in the IT sector.
The memorandum pointed out that in the pharmaceutical sector, Indian companies faced time-consuming and expensive approval processes and complex post-registration steps including pricing, provincial tendering and hospital listing.
“Marketing and distribution also pose significant challenges given the large and diverse geography. CII recommends setting up a Chinese regulatory office in India such as the US Food and Drug Administration for direct inspection of Indian facilities with faster approvals,” the memorandum said.
A key reason for the limited success of Indian films in China is the imposition of an annual quota of 34 foreign films under the “imported movies” category which is dominated by films from Hollywood.
Film co-productionCII suggested that Indian and Chinese film companies should take advantage of the co-production treaty between the two countries.
Similar collaboration for television content should be explored as well.