China hails India's Ease of Doing Business leap; eyes 'win-win'

After the phenomenal jump of 14 ranks by India in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business', Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong has appreciated the jump and extended China’s interest to work with India on more industrial and manufacturing co-operation with enhanced relations between the two nations. The Chinese Ambassador took to Twitter to announce the neighbour's readiness to work with India on industrial and manufacturing cooperation after the 'ease of doing business' jump.

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Third-year in a row

This is the third year in a row that India has made it to the top 10 performers in the Ease of Doing Business report, which is a success which very few countries have done over the 20 years of the project, "Without exception, the other countries that have done this are very small, population-wise, and homogeneous," Simeon Djankov, Director of Development Economics at the World Bank told PTI in an interview. "India is the first country of its type to achieve that. It has jumped this year by 14 positions," he said. Apart from India, the other countries on this year's 'top 10 performers' list are Saudi Arabia (62), Jordan (75), Togo (97), Bahrain (43), Tajikistan (106), Kuwait (83), China (31) and Nigeria (131).

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India's phenomenal jump

India has jumped 14 places to the 63rd position on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking released on Thursday. The overall ranking is based on ten factors including starting a business (136th rank), dealing with construction permits (27th rank), getting electricity (27th rank) and registering property (154) among others.

A seven-year trend shows that India has been on the path of improvement with regard to ease of doing business. In 2013 and 2014, India was ranked 134 which improved to 131 in 2015 and followed by a one-point jump to 130 in 2016. India jumped drastically by 30 places to 100th rank in 2017. In 2018, the country jumped another 23 places to reach the 77th rank which has been further improved by another 14 points to 63rd rank in 2019.

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The 'Ease of doing business index' ranks countries against each other based on how the regulatory environment is conducive to business operation, stronger protections of property rights among other parameters. Economies with a high rank (1 to 20) have simpler and more friendly regulations for businesses. Singapore tops the list of 'ease of doing business'.

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