India-China To Strengthen Economic Relations Over “Tea and Biscuits”

India and China are in talks to expand its tea business by trading beverages across the border. India, the second-largest tea producing country, sees potential among Chinese customers to export tea to China which is the largest tea producing country in the world.

“We see the potential of exporting Indian tea to the Chinese market, and we also see the potential of exporting Chinese tea to India,” Indian Ambassador to China – Gautam Bambawale told the Global Times.

The leaders of the two countries met in April in China in hope to extend the bilateral ties. The Modi government is ramping up attempts to bring more food and agricultural products to China in a bid to condense the trade deficit between China and India.

Chinese customs data showed that on an annual footing, the Sino-Indian bilateral trade surged 15.4% from January –March in 2018. Shivang Ksera, an employee of Indian Kamrup Tea Co stated that during a tea promotion seminar held in Beijing that “The response from Chinese importers was very positive. I have talked to dozens of importers this afternoon, and they have shown a keen interest in our products”.

A representative from the Beijing Tea Chamber, Qin Ling said that “Indian tea producers and exporters are using the EU product standards. Some Chinese companies’ products are not up to the ark.”

“Youths of China are elated to try new things. As you see, coffee has made it big in China, and mixology tea beverages are emerging too,” he said. “Indian black tea is the main material to make mixology tea beverages.”

Bambawale said he is not worried about the sales of Indian tea in China. “There is big potential, and we want to exploit this potential. With the population of 2.4 billion people the market is big,” he said.

If New Delhi breaks through this opportunity to establish interconnection and further multiply trade with Beijing, it is definitely a win-win situation for each other, Zhao stated. China has agreed to purchase rice from 14 of the 19 registered Indian rice exporters, while the other five have been asked to improve their storage and isolation facilities so they can apply again, according to the report.

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