A Chinese delegation of eight companies with operations in India, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, CRRC India Pvt and Dongfang Electric International Corporation, attended a major investment and trade show in West Bengal in a move that could signal a warming up of economic ties following the visit of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, to India last month.

Chinese companies engaged in business exchanges at the 2022 West Bengal Global Business Summit held on Wednesday and Thursday in the Indian state, which ranked the sixth in terms of GDP among Indian localities and has a population of nearly 100 million, according to a press release by the Chinese consulate general in Kolkata.

During the summit, the Chinese delegation also held an in-person event with the Bharat Chamber of Commerce.

Managers of the Mumbai Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and of CRRC India Pvt both expressed that they hold high expectations for the Indian market and economic cooperation between the two countries, adding that they wish to work together with their Indian counterparts to accelerate the fruits of their cooperation projects.

Chinese Consul-General, Zha Liyou, pointed out that in the past two years, the pandemic and the ups and downs in China-India relations did not prevent bilateral trade from experiencing continued robust growth, noting that the resilient trade data sufficiently demonstrates that the strong demand for China-India economic cooperation is an irreversible reality and serves as the solid foundation for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Experts noted that there are signs that economic cooperation between China and India are warming up following the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister.

On March 16, India officially approved 66 investment projects totaling $1.79 billion, mainly by Chinese companies.

In the same month, the management of the Aerotropolis Project at Durgapur Airport in West Bengal, a state in east India with a population of 90 million, expressed interest in attracting Chinese investment to develop the local airport-based economy.

In 2021, bilateral trade in goods surpassed $100 billion ($125.66 billion) and China remained India's biggest trading partner.

Indian officials and entrepreneurs appreciated Zha's proposal on developing bilateral relations and highly appraised the Chinese initiative in overcoming various difficulties to take part in the summit and expressed willingness to work together with the Chinese side to promote bilateral economic cooperation to a new height, according to the press release.