INTRODUCTION   

The India China Alliance Centre (ICAC) is an organization which focuses on promoting Sino-Indian bilateral trade, investment and cultural cooperation.  It has strong linkages with mainland China across provinces on the economic, business, trade and cultural front.  The Centre has been designed as a one stop shop for promoting Sino-Indian bi-lateral coopration.  An ideal opportunity for Indian and Chinese Private Sector Companies and Pulic Sector Undertakings/State Owned Enterprises ; Trade and Investment Promotion Bodies, Central, Provincial and Municipal governments to collaborate and cooperate.  

The India China Alliance Centre was officially launched on 30th October, 2003 in New Delhi in the presence of Mr. A.K. Thakur, the then joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and Mr. Hao Kangli, Vice Mayor, Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, Sichuan Province, People’s Republic of China.  This was followed by a seminar on Sino-Indian Cooperation in early 2004 with Mr. Shashank, the then Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, government of India as the chief guest.  Mr. Jonathan K.S. Choi, CEO, Sun Wah Group, Hongkong delivered the keynote address.  

SCOPE  

• Provide a showcase for Indian and Chinese products and services. 
• Attend to business enquiries in areas with potential.
• Facilitate Indian and Chinese participation in trade fairs in India and China.
• Generate sector and product specific market reports. 
• Facilitate regular exchange of sectoral business delegations.
• Explore investment opportunities. 
• Undertake business consulting assignments. 
• Offer legal advisory services to Chinese companies wishing to invest in India.
• Facilitate cooperation specially in areas such as higher Education, Technical Education, Agriculture and Food Processing, Information Technology and ITeS, Urban Development, Sports and Tourism etc.  

During the last five years, ICAC has received and hosted a number of delegations from China.  To name a few, ICAC received and hosted an IT delegation from Chengdu city led by Vice Mayor Mr. Hao Kangli in October 2003. This was followed by the visit of another IT delegation led by Dr, Wang Xiangkun, Vice Mayor of the Shenyang Municipal People’s Government to India in early 2004.  ICAC also hosted two delegations from the Guangzhou Tianhe Software Park led by Mr. Wu Yimin, Standing Member of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of CPC and another large delegation from the Department of Science and Technology, Shandong province in the last quarter of 2004.   

ICAC also mounted the first ever IT mission to China which, apart from exhibiting at CHINASOFT in April, 2004 in Chengdu city (Sichuan Province), visited Beijing, Shenyang  (Liaoning Province)l and Shanghai.  A tourism mission to Beijing and an Educational tour to Beijing , Shanghai, Hangshou and Shenyang by a group of 30 prinicipals, teachers and students representing New Delhi’s premier public schools were some of the highlights of ICAC’s activities in 2004     

In October/November 2006, ICAC organised the first ever 14 member business mission to China comprising Directors of Indian Business Schools and Institutes of Engineering and Technology.  This mission was in China from October 30 to November 5, 2006 and visited some of the prestigious universities and institutes including the Peking University and the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing.  In Shanghai,the Indian delegation visited  Fudan University, China Europe International Business School(CEIBS) ,  Pudong Software Technology Park and Shanghai Institute of Design (China Academy of Art )    

In early 2007, ICAC mounted the 2nd Mission to China for Indian Business Schools and Institutes of Engineering which visited Beijing, Shenyang and Shanghai from 12 to 18 March, 2007.  The 18 member mission was led by Dr. K. Ponmudy, Minister for Higher Education, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.  Mr. K. Ganesan, IAS, Secretary, Higher Education, Government of Tamil Nadu and Dr. Perumal Kanniappan, Vice Chancellor, Alagappa University were also a part of this high profile delegation.     

In April 2007, ICAC mounted the first ever Agriculture and Food Processing Mission to China from 19 to 27 April, 2007 to coincide with the opening of the 8th China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Sci-tech Fair.  The 27 member delegation was led by Mr. K. J. Alphons, IAS (Retd), Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly and Principal Advisor to India China Alliance Centre.  The Mission visited the cities of Weifang/Shougang and Jinan in Shandong Province and Shenyang city (Liaoning Province).  The Mission was hosted : 1) by the Weifang Municipal People’s Government, Weifang Science and Technology Bureau and the organizing Committee of the 8th China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Sci-tech Fair in Weifang / Shouguang（Shandong province）; 2) by the  Department of Science and Technology in Jinan (Shandong province); and 3) by the Shenyang Information Industry Bureau in Shenyang Liaoning province）.  The highlight of the visit was the meeting of delegation with Mr. Li Baoquan, Vice Mayor (in-charge of Agriculture and Food Processing), Shenyang Municipal People’s Government.    

From 18-24 June 2007, ICAC mounted the 3rd Mission to China for universities, Indian Business Schools and Institutes of Engineering and Technology from India.  This Mission was led by Mrs.  Dilafrose Qazi, vice Chairperson, SSM College of Engineering and Polytechnic, Jammu & Kashmir (one of the nominees of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006).  The Mission was officially hosted by the Shenyang Education Bureau, liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China.  The Mission visited the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University (Beijing) ; Shenyang Education Bureau, International Business School of Shenyang University and Northeastern University (Shenyang) ;  china Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and Fudan University (Shanghai) .  The members of the mission also interacted with the Professors and other responsible officials of the aforesaid institutes and organizations.     

From 18-24 September 2007, ICAC organised the first ever India IT Software Exhibition and Mission to Beijing and Shenyang to coincide with the 2007 edition of the Northeast Asia Hi-Tech Fair held in Shenyang from 20-22 September, 2007.  Coinciding with the Fair wherein India had put up an IT  Software pavilion, Shenyang Information Industry Bureau (SIIB) and ICAC jointly organised a seminar on Sino-Indian  Cooperation in the IT Software Sector on 21 September.  The seminar was followed by the signing of 10 cooperation agreements between India  and  Shenyang based IT software companies.  The 26 member mission was led by Mr. P. Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Animation India Private Ltd. (Asia’s largest Animation company).  Other prominent members of the mission included Mr. Prakash Menon, President, NIIT China (Shanghai) Ltd., Mr. Lin  Demao (Mr. James Lin), CEO & MD, Infosys Technologies (China) Co. Ltd. and Mr. R. K. Nair, CEO, Technopark, Kerala.  The mission was officially hosted by Mr. Yang Hongfeng, Director, SIIB as also by Mr. Liu Peng, Vice Chairman, Co-Create Software League in Shenyang and Beijing respectively.  While select members of the Indian Mission met with Mr. Zhang Zhuoran, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Shenyang and Dr. Zou Dating , Vice Mayor, Shenyang Municipal People’s Government, the entire delegation met with a host of Chinese IT Software companies in Beijing and Shenyang. 

ICAC took the first ever initiative to mount a 19-member mission to China for universities and institutes of Journalism and Mass Communication from India from 29th October-4th November,2007.  Led by Prof. Myron J. Periera, Director, Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, this mission visited and interacted with china’s six premier universities.  These include: Communication University of China (CUC) and Tsinghua University – (Beijing) ; School of Mass Communication, Shenyang University and College of Radio, Film and Television, Liaoning University- (Shenyang city) ; School of Journalism, Fudan University and School of Media and Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University – (Shanghai).  All the visiting universities and institutes from India signed one to one cooperation agreements with the School of Journalism, Fudan University, Shanghai and School of Media and Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.  

In Novermber, 2007, ICAC received a 5 member delegation led by Deputy Mayor of the Shenyang Municipal People’s Government in New Delhi and Agra. During this visit, a MOU was signed between Mr. Hongfeng Yang, Director, Shenyang Information Industry Bureau and Mr. Piyush Bahl, CEO, India China Alliance Centre.

ICAC took yet another unique initiative by mounting a 27 member Educational Tour to China for MBA/IT students and faculty members of India’s premier business schools and colleges of Engineering.  This Educational delegation visited Beijing, Shenyang and Shanghai from 25 November to 05 December 2007. The special feature of this Educational mission was the participation in the delegation by 13 MBA students from India’s premier Business Schools – 1) Faculty of management Studies, University of Delhi and 2) Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Kolkata. The Shenyang Information Industry Bureau (SIIB) was the official host of this unique programme. 

From 8-14 March 2008, ICAC mounted the 4th mission to China for Universities, Business Schools and Institutes of Engineering and Technology from India. This mission visited Shenyang and Shanghai. The unique feature of this mission included the signing of a formal MOU between  ICAC and  Shanghai Overseas Talent Service Centre (SOTSC) on 13 March 2008 in Shanghai which paved the way for ICAC to facilitate and promote two modules of an 8-week International Internship Programme in Shanghai for MBA students from India. Besides, ICAC also signed an umbrella MOU with the Dean of School of Media & Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University on 14 March for the benefit of the Mission which was led by Prof. G. Lakshminarayana, Vice Chaccellor, Dravidian University, Andhra Pradesh, India. This 11-member Indian Education delegation also visited and interacted with senior professors of Peking University and Tsinghua University in Beijing ; Shenyang University and Shenyang Normal University in Shenyang, and China Europe International Business School ( ranked No. 11 in the world ) in Shanghai.  

The Education initiative launched by the India China Alliance Centre nearly four years ago has assumed significance amidst possibilities of an agreement aimed at mutual recognition of academic degrees (Bachelor’s and Master’s) in the field of higher and technical education by India and China.                                              

From 16-22 April, 2008, ICAC also organised the 2nd IT Software mission to China. This 8 member India IT Software Mission which was led by Mr. Sunil gupta, CEO, Collabera Enterprise Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Technopark, Trivandrum, Kerala visited Chengdu, Sichuan Province and Shanghai. 

In Chengdu, the aforesaid Indian delegation participated in China’s premier IT software event titled CHINASOFT 2008 – “6th China International Software Cooperation Conference” held on 17-19 April 2008.  Apart from the Indian delegation, there were international delegations from USA, Japan, EU, Singapore and Taiwan. The main theme of CHINASOFT 2008 was: Innovation and Restructuring – Thoughts and Choices in the realm of Cyberization and Informatization.  In the conference, the representatives of Chinese and foreign software enterprises seriously discussed various special features of cyberization.  

In Shanghai, the aforesaid Indian delegation participated in a seminar on “Sino-Indian Cooperation in the IT Software Sector” organised by Shanghai Informatization Youth Talent Association (SIYTA). After the conclusion of seminar, ICAC entered into a M0U with SIYTA. The MOU was signed by Mr. Sunil Gupta, leader of the Indian delegation, Dr. Dai Jianbiao, CEO, Dragonsoft Company Ltd., Shangahai and Executive President, SIYTA.  Mr. Prakash Menon, CEO, NIIT, China and Mr. R. Tripathi, CEO, “Satyam computers” were also present at the seminar and MoU signing ceremony. 

As per the MOU, India and China are two fastest developing countries in the 21st century.  The development of IT industry in both the countries has been phenomenal. As a matter of fact, there is complementarity between India and China in the IT industry sector. While China is leading in the computer hardware sector, India is extremely strong in the computer software and IT enabled services. While India can provide the embedded software to the electronic hardware manufactured by the Chinese, the Chinese can meet the demands of Indian computer hardware sector.  

The aforesaid MOU clearly states that India and China can collaborate in the field of Research & Development of software sector in order to cater to the high-end market.  Outsourcing world-wide is soon going to become a trillion dollar economy which would involve the entire gamut of industrial sectors including petro-chemicals, biotech and Business Process Outsourcing. India and China can cooperate in this sector.  This cooperation agreement will be valid for a period of five years.

SIYTA and ICAC have entered into a long term cooperation agreement to promote Sino-Indian cooperation and ITeS.  This cooperation agreement will be valid for a period of five years.

From 19-25 October, 2008, ICAC mounted a 27 member high profile 2nd Agriculture and Food Processing Mission to China under the leadership of Mr. E.C.B.Bamon, Minister for Agriculture, Government of Meghalaya. The Provinces of Nagaland and Chhattisgarh were also represented at a very senior level. The Mission visited Shouguang (Shandong Province); Shenyang (Liaoning Province) and Beijing.

The 5th Mission on Higher /Technology Education visited top of the line Universities in Beijing – Shanghai - Shenyang. This Mission was led by Prof (Dr.) J.S. Panwar, Director - MBA Programme, Sardar Patel University, Gujarat. Concurrently, ICAC mounted the 2nd Journalism and Mass Communication Mission to China which was led by Prof M S M Rawat, Vice Chancellor & Professor, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Uttarakhand

From 18-25 March 2009, ICAC organized the visit of a high profile 7 member delegation from Shenyang Huanggu District and Shenyang Information Industry Bureau. This Mission was led by Mr. Liu Huimin, Secretary of Shenyang Huanggu District Communist Party Committee. Apart from meetings with IT Software Companies in Noida and Bangalore, the Mission visited Trivandrum. The highlight of this visit was a courtesy call on the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala. Technopark also organized a major Seminar on Sino-Indian Cooperation in the IT Software / ITeS Sector. The Chief Secretary of Kerala also hosted a banquet dinner in honour of the visiting Chinese delegation. ICAC also signed a MoU with the Shenyang Huanggu District of Science and Technology.

From 22-28 March 2009 and from 14-20 June, 2009, ICAC organized the 6th and 7th Higher / Technical Education Missions to China under the leadership of Prof. Ramasamy Palaniappan, Vice Chancellor, Alagappa University, Tamil Nadu and Prof. K K Deka, Vice Chancellor, Dibrugarh University, Assam respectively. Both these Missions visited top of the line Chinese Universities and International Business Schools in Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

At the request of the Communications University of China (CUC), Nanjing, ICAC facilitated the visit of Dr. P P Bhojvaid, Vice Chancellor, Teri University as a guest speaker at a Seminar being organized by CUC, Nanjing from 15-19 September, 2009 Dr. Bhojvaid would be making a presentation on “The Case of Evolution, Survival and Sustainable Development of Teri University: A Niche University in India”

From 20-26 September, 2009 ICAC organized the 3rd India IT Software / ITeS Mission to China (Beijing, Dalian and Shenyang) coinciding with the 2009 edition of the North East Asia Hi-tech Fair hosted by the Shenyang Municipal People’s Government. The 7 member delegation was led by Dr. Ajay Kumar, Secretary – IT, Government of Kerala. The highlight of the visit was the signing of four MoU’s between Technopark, Trivandrum and ZPark (Beijing Zhongguancun Software Park Development Co., Ltd.) Beiing, P.R.China; Dalian Hi-tech Zone (DHTZ), Liaoning Province, PRC; Shenyang International Software Park; HuangGu District, Shenyang. In addition, Mr. Sunil Gupta, CEO, SQL Star International Limited signed a MoU with Mr Wang Xin Yan, Vice President, Shenyang SIM Simcom Tecchnology Ltd with regard to Cooperation of Software Development for Mobile Phones. Insoft.com Pvt. Ltd also signed a Cooperation MoU with Shenyang International Software Park. The delegation also met with Mr. Zou Da Ting, Vice Mayor, Information Industry, Shenyang Municipal People’s Government

From 4-10 April, 2010 ICAC organised the 8th Higher and Technical Education Mission to China for Provincial Education Departments; Universities; Business Schools and Institutes of Engineering and Technology. The 9 member Mission was led Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu, Hon’ble Minister for Higher and Technical Education as also Urban Development, Government of Nagaland. The Mission had a useful interaction with The Beijing Centre for Chinese Studies, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, Peking University, Beijing, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Shenyang Normal University and Shenyang Polytechnic College, China Europe International Business School, Pudong, Shanghai and Fudan University, Shanghai. Student exchange, Faculty exchange, Joint research and Joint programmes were the key agenda items for discussion.

From 17-24 April, 2010, the Centre organized the 1st Mission to China from the Department of Youth Resources and Sports and Department of Women Development from the Provincial Government of Nagaland, India. The 10 member delegation was jointly led by Mr. M Yanthan and Ms N Keditsu.

The Beijing program included visit to The Temple of Heaven, the most famous ancient architecture in China, uniquely built in 1420 A.D for the Emperors to worship Heaven and pray for good harvest. The delegation also visited the Forbidden City and the famous Tian An Men Square as also the Summer Palace. Visit to the National Stadium, well known as Bird Nest after the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, National Aquatics Centre (Water Cube), The Great Wall of China also formed a part of the program. The Mission Members also got an opportunity to interact with local organizations involved in Sports and Youth Affairs in Beijing and Shenyang. In addition to watching the Peking Opera Performance, the 10 member delegation visited the Shenyang Imperial Museum as well.

From 25 April to 1 May 2010, India China Alliance Centre organized the 3rd Agriculture, Horticulture and Food Processing Mission to China (Shouguang – Shenyang – Beijing). The 15 member mission was jointly led by Dr. Chumben Murry, Minister – Agriculture, Provincial Government of Nagaland and Mr. Damodar Rout, Minister – Agriculture, Provincial Government of Orissa.

In Shouguang, the Mission visited the Weifang (Shouguang) Scientific Academy; Shouguang Agricultural Products Logistics Park; Sanyuanzhu Village of Shouguang, a famous Vegetable Plantation base and the native place of Winter Greenhouse for Vegetable Growth; 11th China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Sci-tech Fair; Shouguang Vegetable Engineering Institute and a local Seed Company. The Mission was hosted to a banquet dinner by the Shouguang County Government

In Shenyang, the Mission visited the Shenyang Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Shenbei New Area (this included three companies associated with agriculture). The Mission also met with Mr. Yu Bo, Director General, The Office of Rural Work and The Committee of Rural Economy of Shenyang Municipal People’s Government and Mr. Zhang Junhua, Deputy Director, Shenyang Municipal Rural Economic Committee. The highlight of the visit to Shenyang was the meeting followed by a banquet dinner in honour of the Indian Ministerial delegation by Dr. Wang Xiang Kun, Vice Mayor, Shenyang Municipal People’s Government.

In Beijing, the Mission visited Beijing Organic and Beyond Corp. (www.organicandbeyond.cn) and met with Dr. Mouhua Shen, Vice President and Dr. Jianping Xing, COO.