Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu to visit China to woo investors

Beijing: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected visit here in May, India is stepping up its campaign to woo Chinese investors with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and a senior government official visiting China next month. Amitabh Kant, Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion will also be visiting Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai where he will be addressing "Make in India" roundtable discussions on "Investment Opportunities in India".

Kant will begin the China visit on April 1 with a meeting with top investors to make a strong pitch for big ticket investments, officials here said. He will be accompanied by top officials and business delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Kant will address roundtable meetings in India and Shanghai being organised by the Indian missions. His visit here is expected to review the progress on status of the investments and pave the way for smooth flow of more Chinese investments into India.

Kant will be followed by Naidu in the middle of April, who will visit Beijing and Shanghai where the Andhra Pradesh chief minister will address investors' meetings to highlight major investment opportunities in his state which is poised to build its new capital after the creation of Telangana. The visits come ahead of Modi's planned visit in May which is expected to give a major thrust to China's proposed investments in India.

China has announced the USD 40 billion Silk Road fund, followed by the USD 50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) along with USD 50 billion BRICS Development Bank, both of which are expected to be operationalised this year. China had committed to invest USD 20 billion in two industrial parks in India during President Xi Jinping's visit to India last September.