Clinching a deal, China agrees to reduce import tariff on Indian medicines; especially cancer drugs

NewsBharati    10-Jul-2018
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Beijing, July 10: Consolidating the relations between India and China, the two countries have taken a step forward in terms of trade. Clinching a deal with India on the reduction of import duties on Indian medicines including anti-cancer drugs, which are highly expensive in the country, China said that it will reduce the import tariff of Indian medicine.

As discussed, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Wuhan summit in April, China has granted more access to Indian pharmaceutical companies. The reason behind this decision is that Indian medicines, especially anti-cancer drugs, are in great demand in China as they are much cheaper than Western alternatives.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the expansion of imports and slashing of tariffs on anti-cancer medicines will usher in great opportunities for India and other countries in the country.

Referring to a recent popular movie 'Dying to Survive' about zero tariff imposition on anti-cancer medicines in China, the foreign minister described that the movie is about a leukemia patient, who imports and sells less expensive generic anticancer drugs from India for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in China.

Speaking about India's decision to cut levies on 3,142 items from the member countries of Asia Pacific Trade Agreement of which China is a signatory to the accord, the minister said according to the outcome of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement, we agreed to slash tariffs by 33%. So the slashing of tariffs by the Indian side is also part of this negotiation.

China and the United States have been engaged in a tariff war in recent months after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs worth billions of dollars for Chinese products.

Beijing earlier announced a cut in import duties on over 8,500 Indian items. It said it will relax taxes on more Indian goods.