According to news release by the Ministry of Finance of China, the third China-India Financial Dialogue was held in New Delhi, India's capital, on January 16, 2009. Liao Xiaojun, Chinese Vice Minister of Finance, and Ashok Chawla, India's Deputy Finance Minister, jointly presided over it.

The dialogue was convened under the backdrop of the rapidly spreading international financial crisis and the severe challenges world economic growth is facing, thus it attracted great attention from both Chinese and Indian sides.

In the one-day dialogue, the two sides held talks on topics such as, the influence of the current global economic situation on China and India and their relative countermeasures, economic reforms and development experiences, the G20 financial market and follow-up work for the World Economic Summit, as well as the reform of the Chinese and Indian financial systems and their cooperation. After the dialogue, the two sides issued a joint statement.

The meeting was conducive to further strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation between China and India, and expanding common grounds in financial areas and advancing the strategic partnership between the two countries. At the same time it was also conducive to reinforcing China-India communication and their cooperation to join the international community in the fight against the financial crisis, making efforts in driving the steady and rapid development of the world economy.

The China-India financial dialogue mechanism was established in the spirit of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India on the launch of a China-India financial dialogue mechanism signed by the Chinese Premier and the Indian Prime Minister in April 2005. The capitals of the two countries take turns in holding the dialogue.

By People's Daily Online