On March 19, 2025, H.E. Mr. Xu Feihong, Chinese Ambassador to India publishes an article entitled “India-China Can Achieve A Dragon-Elephant Tango” in The Times of India, The full text is as follows:
Beijing is bursting with vibrant blossoms in March. As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference（CPPCC), I feel privileged to attend the Two Sessions, holding discussions concerning national policies and principle with other CPPCC members and National People’s Congress (NPC) deputies. The annual sessions of the NPC and CPPCC are not only a major event in China's political life but also a window for the world to understand China. This year's Two Sessions have particular significance, as 2025 marks the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the beginning of the blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Plan. As the external and internal environments evolve and technological waves sweep across industries, the world is paying closer attention to China's policy and future development.
I would like to use three key words to brief my Indian friends on Two Session 2025. Hopefully, it will help you to understand China and seize opportunities.
——Growth. This year’s Government Work Report is both pragmatic and progressive, with the words “development” and “reform” appearing 141 times and 40 times respectively. Taking into account evolving dynamics both at home and abroad, the report reflects the Chinese government's determination to safeguard the smooth transition between old and new economic drivers. We will adopt a more proactive fiscal policy and appropriately accommodative monetary policy to ensure the achievement of the main growth targets for 2025: GDP growth target at around 5 percent, newly created urban jobs over 12 million, grain output at around 700 million metric tons. To this end, we have raised the deficit-to-GDP ratio to 4%, which is nearly the highest since the reform and opening up in 1978. We will issue ultra-long special treasury bonds totaling $180 billion for local govt debt relief and industrial restructuring. We will launch special initiatives to boost consumption, stimulate domestic demand, and promote positive interplay between economic growth and improvements in people’s livelihood.
——Innovation. As humanoid robots and DeepSeek shock the world, technological innovation has become a buzzword of the Two Sessions. Government Work Report has identified “developing new quality productive forces” as one of the major tasks for 2025, vowing to promote safe and sound development of emerging industries such as commercial space and low-altitude economy, spur future industries such as biomanufacturing, quantum technology, embodied intelligence, and 6G. Some foreign media commented that China's "hardcore" technology industry has entered harvest season in the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan, injecting confidence into the market. As China accelerates its transition from "manufacturing" to "innovation and creation," it will benefit Global South.
——Opening-up. This year’s Government Work Report reaffirms that regardless of changes in the external environment, China will remain steadfast in its commitment to opening up, steadily expand institutional opening up and advance unilateral opening up in a well-ordered way. We always walk the talk. China has fully lifted foreign investment restrictions in the manufacturing sector, reducing the overall tariff level to 7.3%, close to that of developed members of the WTO. China has become the major trading partner of over 150 countries and regions, with the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises increasing by 9.9% last year. China has granted unilateral visa-free entry to 38 countries and extended the transit visa-free period to 240 hours for 54 countries. In 2024, over 20 million foreign travelers entered China visa-free, up by 112 percent year-on-year. Many foreign friends used to think China as a "mystery", but are converted to "China enthusiasts" after their visits.
Both China and India are at a critical stage of national development and rejuvenation. Development is the biggest shared goal of the two countries. China’s high-quality development and high-standard opening up will provide India with broader market, more stable supply chains and closer trade ties. India has a competitive edge in IT, software and biomedicine, while China is seeing rapid expansion in the fields of electronic manufacturing, infrastructure construction and new energy. If connected, the two major markets will produce an effect of “1+1=11”. China welcomes more Indian high-quality products and will be more than happy to share its development dividends with India. Indian companies can enhance “Make in India” by “investing in China.”
On April 1st, China and India will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. I firmly believe that under the strategic guidance of the top leaders, the two countries will achieve a dragon-elephant tango through mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual accommodation and mutual accomplishment.