India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue to be held from 7-9 September 2019

The 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue(SED) will be held in New Delhi from 7-9 September 2019. The Dialogue will comprise of round table meetings of Joint Working Groups (JWG) on Infrastructure, Energy, High-Tech, Resource Conservation, Pharmaceuticals and Policy coordination followed by technical site visits and closed door G2G meetings.The Indian side will be led by Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and the Chinese side by Chairman, NDRC. Senior representatives from policy making, industry and academia will participate in the Dialogue from both sides.

Structure:

NITI Aayog (earlier Planning Commission) on the Indian side and National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) on the Chinese side lead the SED Mechanism wherein an annual Dialogue is held annually alternately at the capital cities of the two countries. At the 2nd SED which was held in November 2012 at New Delhi, it was decided to constitute 5 standing Joint Working Groups (JWGs) on Policy Coordination, Infrastructure, Environment, Energy, and High Technology under the SED for strengthening cooperation in these fields. A 6th Joint Working Group on Pharmaceuticals has also been constituted after the 5thSED.

Background:

Set up between erstwhile Planning Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China during the visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010, the SED has since then served as an effective mechanism for enhancing bilateral practical cooperation. NITI Aayog after its formation has taken the Dialogue forward giving it a greater momentum. Under the aegis of the SED, senior representatives from both sides come together to constructively deliberate on and share individual best practices and successfully identify sector-specific challenges and opportunities for enabling ease of doing business and facilitating bilateral trade and investment flows.

Six standing Joint Working Groups with Co-Chairs (of the rank of Joint Secretary and above) are appointed by both sides to address pertinent economic and commercial issues across infrastructure, energy, high-tech, resource conservation, pharmaceuticals and policy coordination in a structured and outcome-oriented manner by ensuring regular interaction and continued exchanges between respective counterparts.

5thSED:

The 5th SED was held in Beijing on April 14 2018 right before the informal Wuhan Summit between the leaders of the two countries. The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog and comprised of participants from senior-ranks of the government and business fields. Focused deliberations around the global macroeconomic scenario along with detailed discussions centred on the progress made by the Joint Working Groups and identifying potential areas of mutual cooperation were taken up at the Dialogue. Alluding to the immense potential of bilateral cooperation in the Pharma sector, the Indian side made a representation to constitute a Joint Working Group on Pharmaceuticals to constructively address market access and related issues under the SED umbrella. The JWG on Pharmaceuticals has since been constituted and its first Meeting was held in May at Beijing this year.