Piyush Goyal meets with Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao to discuss bilateral economic and trade cooperation

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on the sidelines of the World Trade Organisation’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) to discuss bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Sharing details of the meeting, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India said in a social media post on X that both leaders expressed willingness to deepen engagement between the two countries.

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“China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, during the 14th WTO ministerial conference. China stands ready to work with India to fully leverage the role of bilateral economic and trade cooperation as a ballast,” the post read.

Earlier, sharing his experience at the WTO meeting, Goyal had highlighted India’s engagement with the United States and said India is pushing for preferential access. He also mentioned the best possible deal in its ongoing trade engagement with the United States, underlining that the country is currently in a very sweet spot among emerging economies.

“Our approach is that India should get preferential access, market access and, having got the best deal compared to any of our competitors or any other emerging or developing economy, we are sitting on a very sweet spot,” Goyal said.

He added that as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, India offers a compelling India opportunity that global investors are expected to increasingly tap.

Piyush Goyal also held extensive diplomatic outreach, including 12 multilateral and 24 bilateral meetings aimed at strengthening trade partnerships at the WTO.

While addressing the media after the four-day conference, Minister Goyal said the discussion witnessed intensive deliberations on key global trade issues, including WTO reforms, fisheries subsidies, investment facilitation for development, e-commerce, agriculture, and other developmental concerns.

He informed that three key decisions were announced during the conference, including measures aimed at strengthening the integration of small economies into the multilateral trading system, with a focus on improving trade logistics, connectivity, and border processes to enhance their participation in global trade.