Shanghai, May 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Shanghai today, where he met 22 top Chinese CEOs to pitch his "Make in India" agenda to them. 21 business agreements worth 22 billion dollars were signed between Indian and Chinese companies today.
"I have come to say to you Make in India," the PM told the Chinese industry leaders, and talked about what he called the "5F Formula - From Farm to Fibre to Fabric to Fashion to Foreign."
India and China, PM Modi said, "can together give something to the world."
The Prime Minister also addressed the India-China Business Forum shortly; 39 Indian business honchos attended.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted a photo of the PM in a bandhgala, flanked by the top Chinese CEOs, saying, "Trillions of dollars under 1 roof! PM @narendramodi with Who's Who of Chinese industry at CEO's interaction Shanghai."
Among them was Jack Ma of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who told PM Modi, "We are excited about India. We are excited about Make in India and Digital India."
Lin Bin, President of phone maker Xiaomi, said, "We have some big plans for India, we fully support Make in India."
Trade is a key focus of PM Modi's three-day visit to China. He flew to Shanghai on Friday evening from Beijing, where he held talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
The trade imbalance between the two countries has figured high on the agenda in discussions between the two countries. The trade deficit between India and China increased about 34 per cent to $48.43 billion in 2014-15 from $36.21 billion in the previous fiscal, in China's favour.
Top Indian CEOs like Chanda Kochhar of ICICI and Rajan Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises Airtel said that the growing trade deficit is a huge worry.
"The trade deficit has to be managed... The task force needs to work on this because the gap is huge," Mr Mittal said.
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