The Tata Group participated in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Embassy of India in China organised second ‘Made in India’ show in Beijing, China from December 1-4, 2004. The exhibition had the support of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, China Chamber of International Commerce, PRC and Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GoI.

India is keen to forge a progressive and forward-looking economic partnership with China in order to sustain the booming bilateral trade between the two countries, which is going to set a new record at US$12 bn this year, stated Nalin Surie, Ambassador of India to China addressing the ‘India-China Trade and Investment Seminar’ which was a part of this exhibition. The exhibition was inaugurated on December 1, 2004 amid much fanfare by Zhang Wei, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The VIPs at the Tata stall immediately after the inauguration

As the international business gateway of the Tata Group, Tata International coordinated the participation of the Tata Group companies. Besides Tata International, the other Tata companies that participated in the Tata stall were Tata Steel, Tata Motors, TCS, CMC, Tata Interactive Systems, Tata Coffee, Tata Refractories, and The Tinplate Company of India. Representatives from most of the participating companies were present. The 200-sq.m. Tata stall was advantageously placed at the entrance of hall1 at the National Agriculture Exhibition Centre in Beijing.

While the Indica car on display invited much curiosity as to its launch date and pricing and enquiries for minerals like iron ore were prolific, by and large the enquiries for the other Tata products and services were largely exploratory and mainly served the purpose of building brand awareness about the group. The Tata personnel present were interviewed and received coverage in the press, radio and on television in China.