The Members of the Managing Committee of the Bengal Chamber interacted with Mr Ma Zhanwu, Consul General, Consulate General of People’s Republic of China in Kolkata on 20th December 2017 in the Chamber premises.

Mr Zhanwu said that he had been in the City of Kolkata for two and a half years now and that he loved Bengal and Kolkata which he thought was indeed a city of vitality, knowledge, development, joy and a city of prosperity. He felt that with the growth and development in this part of the world, this City should rank amongst the top cities of the world in the next few years. Mr Zhanwu stated that he greatly admired the history and heritage of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and felt happy to be at the Chamber.

The Consul General spoke about current Chinese infrastructure and connectivity initiatives spanning continents, trade relations and prospects of trade with India and specifically Bengal, while focusing on the scope of future Chinese investments in Bengal.

He commented that China’s growth story is currently transforming from ‘high-speed growth’ to ‘high quality growth’. From an average yearly growth rate of about 9% over several years, China has come down to a growth rate of 6.9% per annum this year and it should settle at around 6.5% with its new thrust on quality and efficiency. Innovation was the new course to be adopted in place of extension of scale. The traditional ties between Bengal and China could provide further scope for expansion of business here.