INDIA has to learn a lot from China’s near double-digit economic growth and emergence as a the world’s factory, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said after touring the Communist giant’s gleaming economic hub, Shanghai, reported PTI. Chidambaram, who met his counterpart Jin Renqing, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng and visited the Suzhou Industrial Park in neighbouring Jiangsu province and the booming Pudong financial district, is of the view that India has to learn a lot from Chinese experience in developing its economy at a fast pace.

“Most of our major companies are here, manufacturing, food processing, software and energy. I think it is an opportunity to showcase what we can do,” Chidambaram, who inaugurated the third ‘Made in India’ (MII) show in Shanghai on October 17 said. The presence of over 60 Indian trade and industry organisations at the MMI show will contribute to harnessing business opportunities between India and China, he said, congratulating the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for organising the event for the last three years in a row. He was of the view that more than what India can teach the Chinese it was up to the Indians to learn more from China.

“More than what we tell or teach them (the Chinese), we have a lot to learn and imbibe,” said Chidambaram, who represented India at the just-concluded G-20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Xianghe city in north China. The minister also used his spare time to see the Chinese capital city’s fast-paced changes as it races to host the 2008 Olympic Games.