July 10-11, 2016

1. Consul General Prakash Gupta paid an official visit to Quzhou (located in Zhejiang Province) from 10-11 July and called on Mr. Du Shiyuan, Mayor of Quzhou Municipal People’s Government to discuss ways and means to deepen bilateral cooperation between Indian Consulate and Quzhou Municipal People’s Government.

2. It may be noted that Quzhou (located at the western tip of Zhejiang Province) is an important transportation hub connecting Zhejiang with 4 neighboring provinces, as well as is an important production facility for chemicals, photovoltaic panels and battery powered vehicles.

3. During the meeting with Quzhou Mayor, Consul General proposed an Annual Plan of Cooperation to deepen all round cooperation between India and Quzhou. Some of the main elements included: organization of an India-Quzhou Investment Promotion Seminar, an India Culture Week showcasing Indian Films, Food, Art and cultural performances in Quzhou and the possible establishment of Sister City relationship of Quzhou with a counterpart Indian city. Quzhou Mayor welcomed the proposed Plan of Cooperation and assured the fullest support of Quzhou Municipal People’s Government in ensuring its timely implementation. Quzhou Mayor also stated that given the positive investment scenario in India, he would like to lead a business delegation to explore investment opportunities in India early next year.

4. Separately, Consul General also visited four leading business enterprises from Quzhou, all of whom already had either investment plans for India or were already exporting to India. These included Xingyuesheng Battery Cycle Plant which was looking at options of supplying battery powered vehicles to smart city projects in India. Kaishan Group, a State of Art Geothermal Technology Company, which was in partnership with several Indian infrastructure players (including Kirloskar and Birla Group) for possible JV collaboration in India. Similarly, Leye Photovoltaic Tech Company had a manufacturing unit in Hyderabad and was looking to scale up its India operations. In addition, China’s largest producer of decorative paper, King Décor (Xiawang Group) was also exporting nearly 18000 tons of decorative paper annually to several Indian clients. The company claimed to have nearly 25 per cent of total Indian market share in this sector.

5. During the visit to the above four companies in Quzhou, Consul General urged them to scale up their India operations/plans and assured them of Consulate’s fullest support in expanding their India’s operations.

6. Earlier on 11th July, Consul General also paid a visit to the famous Confucius Temple located in Quzhou which hosts the 75th generation of Confucius direct blood relatives at its premises presently! The city is therefore (2nd after Qufu in Shandong) to host such a large scale Confucius Temple in mainland in China.

7. It is expected that with the visit of Consul General and the exchanges that transpired during the visit, concrete steps will now follow from both sides to deepen all round cooperation between India and Quzhou.

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Quzhou (Zhejiang)
11 July 2016