Chairman meets Indian trade delegation
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-06-18 09:23
Tibet Autonomous Region Chairman Qiangba Puncog met with a visiting Indian
commercial and trade delegation in Lhasa on Saturday
evening.
The seven-member delegation arrived in Lhasa, capital of Tibet,
on Saturday afternoon to negotiate with China the reopening of the Natu La Pass
border market which was been closed for more than 40 years.
Qiangba said
Tibet has achieved rapid economic growth, with the annual GDP growth above 12
percent in the past five years, which is higher than the country's
average.
At the same time, Tibet has improved its infrastructure, said
the chairman, stressing that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway will help Tibet's opening
to the outside. The railway is scheduled to undergo trail operations beginning
on July 1.
Qiangba said China and India's friendship has a long history
and the economic and trade cooperation between the two nations have been close
in recent years.
He said the Chinese government attaches great importance
to bilateral economic and trade cooperation and is preparing for reopening the
border market at Natu La Pass.
Christy Fernandez, head of the delegation,
who is also the Secretary of Department of Commerce of Government of India, said
India is expecting more open bilateral trade with China.
The Natu La Pass
is 4,545 meters above sea level, and is 460 kilometers away from Lhasa and 550
kilometers from the Indian coastal city of Calcutta. It used to be an important
trade passage between China and India.
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