China’s leading carmaker SAIC Motor Corp and Great Wall Motor are eager to plot profit from India, one of the last frontiers in growth close to home.

With rising fuel consumption, a government that is keen to build better roads and a growing population, Chinese auto makers although late entrants, are currently waiting for permissions to clear to gain access to India.

SAIC in particular is evaluating what models to launch in India and is considering vehicles less than 4 meters in length because of favorable policies — sub-compact cars attract lower taxes.

While India isn’t new territory for SAIC Motor Corp and Great Wall Motor – both have been trying to break into the Indian market since 2012, a slowdown in the Chinese market and successive successes by other Chinese companies in India has given them new wind behind their wings.

Analysts believe that Gujarat, the home to General Motor’s factory will be the new base for the Chinese auto giants. The speculation is further fueled by the fact that 50 percent of GM India is owned by SAIC Motor Corp in a deal that was signed in 2009 when the Chinese government bailed GM out of a financial disaster.  Both companies are crunching numbers on India’s SUV industry specifically as the segment is expected to grow exponentially.

As a percentage of total sales, SUV’s have grown to more than 30 percent of the total luxury vehicles sold in India. Companies say in a diverse market like India, which has one of the most challenging road conditions, these all-wheel-driven SUVs become the first choice for the rich because they offer both functionality and comfort.

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— By Charmaine Mirza

China has swept the shipping industry off its feet in a massive tsunami wave of dominance over Asia’s waters. In comparison, India’s harbours are barely a drop in the ocean.

As the Chinese economy starts to lose steam, the mandarin sea dragon is huffing and puffing to stay on top of the wave – even as the Indian ocean-crocodile starts to snap its jaws. Even as we conclude the Maritime India Summit, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai, is ramping up productivity. Currently one of the largest port facilities in the country, JNPT had a record number of container lifts in 2015-16 as compared to previous years.

In contrast, China’s shipping industry is flailing badly, and ruthlessly crashing its shipping rates to do whatever it takes to maintain its flagship status. So do Indian ports really hold a strategic advantage over mainland China’s anchorages? Inchin Closer takes a closer look from the crow’s nest to analyze the situation and weigh the options based on the following:

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In a bid to catch up with China in Africa, India is hosting the third India-Africa Trade summit in New Delhi between 26 – 29th October. The trade summit will seek to increase Indian investments into Africa, a feat China has been pursuing since the early 2000’s. New Delhi however woke up to the continent only after the 2008 financial crisis when she realigned strategies to diversify trade beyond the US and Europe. Since then, two-way annual trade has more than doubled to US$72 billion

Meanwhile, China has become by far Africa’s biggest trading partner, exchanging about US$184 billion-worth of goods a year, a growth of nearly 20 times trade since 2000 and almost three times the value of India’s trade in the region.

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The sharing economy has got more competitive with Didi Kuaidi, Lyft, India’s Ola cabs and Singapore’s grabtaxi uniting by the force of their investors into one giant competitor for Uber cabs.

Uber which essentially disrupted taxi services worldwide in 2015, is facing heat admist markets that hold the most potential. Asia with large populations, mostly all on smartphones, is fertile ground for this competition to be fought out. As a result, Uber recently invested US$1.2 billion into China and is expected to invest close to US$1 billion into India.

While, Bangalore based, Ola cabs is yet to sign on the dotted line with Didi Kuaidi, the knot, according to sources is almost tied. If aligned, Didi Kuaidi, will not just be competing for India’s US$10 billion taxi market, but will become the biggest taxi sharing service worldwide.

Didi Kuaidi whose investors include Alibaba and Tencent Holdings is valued at $16 billion and is expected to invest close to US$30 million of a total US$500 million raised by Ola. The alliance is targeted at growing their existing marketshare and offering strong competition to Uber which has faced several law suits and isn’t yet on firm ground in India. Ola cabs currently claims 750,000 rides a day in India while Uber plans to scale upto 200,000 rides a day with the new investment.

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The Chinese stock market has nosedived loosing US$3.2 trillion or nearly twice the value of the Indian stock exchanges according to Bloomberg.

Although Beijing attempted to arrest the free fall over the weekend, by pumping liquidity into the system, the Chinese stock markets continued to fall on Wednesday. Analysts fear India needs to look at the Chinese stock markets more closely as compared to the greek market collapse, as China’s markets are more closely linked to India than Greece is. According to the Financial Times, The Shanghai Composite opened down as much as 8 percent before paring losses to a 4.7 percent decline by 11:15am local time today. The Shenzhen index lost 3.3 percent, while the start-up ChiNext board was down 0.2 percent.

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Chinese companies are keen now more than ever to invest in India, with a long term vision on rich dividends in the years to come. With a stable economy, government and smart apex bank governor, India is China’s golden ticket. Besides Jack Ma who showed interest in investing in Indian technology firms earlier this year, the Wanda group, the world’s largest property developer with interest in culture and tourism, ecommerce and department stores is also keen on investing in India.

The property major is in talks with the government of Haryana to develop 100 square kms into an industrial and township zone. While final approvals are yet to be sought for Wanda, Guangdong’s Wangtat Construction and Investment Holdings Group recently met with Vapi-based Payal Properties Pvt Ltd to develop an industrial park in Bharuch district. The park is expected to cover 300 acres and is likely to witness an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. It is expected to house industrial units from automotive, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electricity generation equipment as well as electric transmission and distribution sectors.

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The debate for which Asian economy – India or China is growing faster, better or stronger rages on in financial circles as investors and governments vie to fraternize with either nation.  To give this argument a logical spin, Inchin Closer presents the Asian giants in numbers. Below are a few charts that will help explain where India and China came from and the direction each nation is heading towards. On a more macro level, we will also help analyse whether polices taken today will augment well for the countries going forward. This is the first in a 2 part series. According to the IMF, as China’s economy slows and India’s picks up pace, the tiger is supposed to outrun the dragon before the end of this year, albeit marginally. According to real GDP numbers compounded, China has succeeded in growing faster and stronger than India for the past 35 years (except 3 years). However as of the end of 2014, India’s GDP is now expected to be faster than China’s.

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In the second part of our India – China in Numbers series, we compare trade in products and services between the sweet and sour neighbours. We also look at the resultant impact both nations have on the world economy and the weight they can thereby leverage on international negotiations.

Lastly, we look at the traffic of people – businesmen and tourists between China and India to determine whom is more interested in maintaining better bilateral relations. In the chart below, we analyse the reason behind why China is known as the factory of the world and India the global back office. China clearly outstrips India in trade of products, while India reigns over China in services. In 2013, India had a deficit of US$143 billion in goods trade whereas it had a surplus of US$73 billion in services trade. In contrast, China had a surplus of US$360 billion in goods trade but a deficit of US$125 billion in services trade.

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As China’s economy slows, umpteen articles document the rise of Chinese companies globally. Few have looked at what inroads Indians have mapped into the dragons lair. As the world turns towards India for hope, Inchin Closer looks at a growing trend of Indians who have made China their home.

Having settled in the Middle Kingdom, many Indians have either set up businesses or joined existing conglomerates to prosper within China. First Indians ventured into China just on official assignments, often spanning a year or two. Sent by their Indian company to spread wings in a booming Chinese economy. A majority of these professionals, stayed within themselves, ate Indian food and yearn for the time they would return.

Few made local Chinese friends or even bothered to learn more than Ni hao. However with the recent flourish of Sino-Indian ties, many Indians are seeing more merit in China than returning back to India. Entrepreneurs, those who want to break away from the mundane in Mumbai or the drudgery of Delhi decide to move and either start a business of their own or join an existing multinational, finally settling in to China.

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The dramatic 60 percent fall in oil prices since July last year has created interesting effects on the economies of China and India. The Chinese economy seems to have been significantly buffered due to the stark drop in oil prices since June 2014. On the other hand, the Indian economy has been lifted, sheltering its 1.3 million consumers from higher inflation, enabling consumers to buy more and the IMF to predict that India’s economy can outpace China’s this year. Analysts predict that China’s economy could have suffered a much harder blow had oil prices for the world’s largest energy consumer not fallen.  A strong reminder of this came on Sunday, when Beijing introduced a 1 percentage-point reduction in the amount of cash that lenders must lock up as reserves. It is the largest cut in Chinese banks’ required reserve ratio (RRR) since late 2008, the nadir of the global financial crisis. Cutting RRR to 18.5 percent, frees up nearly 1.3 trillion yuan (US$210 billion) for new lending, money that should help shore up growth.

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