Jack Ma will invest in Indian movies, Zhang Jianxin, cultural counsellor, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China told Express Special Correspondent Arun Lakshman, on the sidelines of India-Chinese Friendship Association programme. He touched upon various topics ranging from culture to business, here are the excerpts:
What are the major activities of the culture counsellor in the Embassy of China in India
The culture counsellor has several activities including promoting the culture of our country among the people of India. People to people interaction is a significant activity of our department, and I feel that there should be more people to people interactions between the two great cultures. I’m a trained archeologist, and I have been to India several times before joining the Embassy as Culture Councilor.
How’s the perception of the Chinese people towards India and its people
Chinese people are for a good relationship with Indians, and we are great fans of Indian movies. The movie “Dangal” of Amir Khan collected more than $120 million in China more than what it has collected in India. We love Indian films, and Raj Kapoor and his movies are still a hit in China. That’s the reason why we are concentrating on people to people relationships. I had studied Hindi, and my teacher had translated the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana to the Chinese language.
Are there major Chinese investments in India?
Yes, several major Chinese companies have invested in India and are making good profits. There are several Chinese food outlets here likewise. Moreover, I can tell you that the homegrown Chinese business magnate and founder-executive Chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma is planning to invest heavily in the Indian film industry. He is already into film making in China and wants to extend it to India, and we expect him to make good Indian movies.
Any India-China joint film ventures
We are actively pursuing Indian scripts for a film on Bodhidharma, the monk saint. Our Ambassador has been scouting for good Indian writers for the scripts. However, so far we have not received good scripts on the subject and once we find we will be going for it.
Several Indian students are studying in China, what is the volume of Chinese students here?
There are over 25,000 Indian students in China, and most of them are into medicine. There are only around 1,800 Chinese students in India. We are into discussions with the Ministry of Human Resources, Government of India for fine-tuning the flow of students into India and from here to China. Chinese students are also facing visa issues as they get only three months visiting visa to start with and have to extend this. This leads to the students going for the visa procedures during their study time. Another factor is that there are very few native Chinese teachers in India while Hindi is taught in 24 universities in China, including Beijing university. I have had detailed discussions with the Kerala University VC Mahadevan Pillai for further cooperation.