India and China have set an ambitious bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2015 compared to last year's record figure of $74 billion, the External Affairs Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, has said.
Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has witnessed a robust growth rate and India will continue to carry forward the positive momentum in ties, Mr Krishna said.
“We have set a target of $100 billion for the year 2015 and I'm confident we will achieve this target,” Mr Krishna said in an interview to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
In order to further enhance economic consultation and cooperation, last year the two sides have launched the Strategic Economic Dialogue mechanism, Mr Krishna said.
“We will continue to work hard to maintain the positive momentum of bilateral trade with China,” Krishna, who is in China on a visit to inaugurate the new Indian Embassy here, said.
Over all, India-China bilateral trade rose by $12.2 billion increase last year compared to 2010 when the total trade was $61.7 billion, according to official trade figures for 2011.
The trade deficit from January to December of 2011, however, piled up to $27.07 billion even though Indian exports to China went up to $23.4 billion registering a growth of almost 12.26 per cent compared to the same period in year 2010.
Indian exports to China mainly composed of primary products and commodity sector increased despite the decline of iron ore exports, which dominated India's exports for long due to ban on mining in Karnataka and Goa, according to official sources.