The sixth edition of the China Homelife and Machinex Expo 2018 kicked off to a three day start in Mumbai on December 17 with 2,000 ‘best-in-class’ Chinese suppliers offering top grade products at competitive prices to Indian consumers – including even offering to bring in any factory lock, stock and barrel from China and setting it up in India for Make In India.

“India offers huge potential for online growth in foreign trade and www.Tradechina.com is our first step in this direction,” said Eric Pan, Chairman of Meorient International Exhibitions which has organized the Expo, while its CEO Gavil Fang noted that India’s SME growth would be fueled by manufacturing and franchising sector with the 2018 Machinex India connecting Indian entrepreneurs to factory and franchise solutions from China.

Tang Guocai, Consul General of People’s Republic of China, highlighted the need for the various Government agencies of India and China to work together in providing a conducive environment for trade growth. “Both governments need to provide a good platform for more exchanges as there exists a bright future for both countries to work together in tapping the markets of Asia, Middle East and Africa,” he said while pointing out the growing importance of the Indian market that was witnessing reforms amidst opening up of its businesses to China.

Guocai revealed that this weekend would witness a series of high-level cultural and economic exchanges involving China and India’s foreign ministers , which highlighted a brighter future for Indo-Chinese relations.

Another Chinese official said that alongside rising bilateral trade volumes, this expo is so far the largest show hosted abroad by the Chinese Government with Homelife and Machines as main topics, and over witnessing 30% growth with 600 Chinese companies participating this year. India represented the 5th largest export market for China, he said.

Indo-China bilateral trade had reached US $ 85 billion with a 19% growth of US $ 30 billion last year itself and India witnessing 10% growth in exports to China which had emerged as its largest trading partner, Vandan Shah, Co-Chairman, WR  Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Taskforce on GST Implementation, said while adding that both countries needed to work on rebalancing their flow of trade.

Deng Jian, Deputy Director-General of Hangzhou Municipal Commission of Commerce, showcased Hangzhou’s 5,000-year-old culture with its US$ 180 billion economy that had given rise to Internet giants like Alibaba.com.

Unprecedented trade opportunities awaited both countries now alongside a need for cooperation in designing trade investment corporations — especially for SMEs —  as India is the 7th largest trading partner of Hangzhou, he said.

Jinand Shah, Founder Director, CapitalWorld Platform Pvt Ltd, highlighted ‘psbloanin59minutes.com’ that had been introduced by the Indian Government to help MSMEs raise loans for their businesses in less than 59 minutes through all banks in India. Describing GST as a transformation tool, he said thousands of crores of rupees had been sanctioned as loans since 45 days of this App’s launch, he said while noting that digital transformation is taking off in India.

Karl Liu, Chairman and CEO, BUYFROMCHINA (BFC), while describing BFC as an industrial internet platform company, pointed out that it is helping build factories locally and could assist in moving an entire production line from China to India.  He provided the gathering with key insights in sectors like furniture, appliances, leather and sporting goods, metal and non-metallic mineral products, medical, chemical, environmental  recycling, handicrafts, plastic, rubber products industry,   transportation equipment, agricultural machinery, plastic moulding, die casting, cnc machining, mechanical processing, industrial robot and automation  equipment.

Binu Pillai, COO, Meorient International Exhibitions, said that the bilateral trade volume between India and China is expected to grow exponentially in near future for which this Expo would play an instrumental role in fueling this growth.

Describing China as Asia’ largest manufacturer and India a powerhouse witnessing growth in domestic demand where China could play a key role, an Indian official highlighted Maharashtra as the commercial capital of India and a pioneer in bringing top companies to the country due to its numerous cargo hubs and ports.