By Anil K Joseph

Beijing, Sep 11 (PTI) While foreseeing greater India-China economic cooperation, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal today identified export-led growth as the biggest challenge the communist giant is facing in its new "great leap forward".

"Today, the Chinese economy is driven by exports. Ideally, it should be led by domestic consumption levels. I think that is the biggest challenge the Chinese economy is facing," said Sibal, a panellist at the ongoing China Business Summit 2006 organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) here.

"We, fortunately do not face that challenge and most of our growth is driven by huge consumption," he said on the topic, 'Globalist or Mercantilist: China's Future Role in the World Economy', attended by an august gathering of eminent economists and entrepreneurs.

"The more players you have within a market, the more units of production you have, who contribute to the economy, the greater benefit it will have to the world economy. It is a challenge to the world economy how do you get more people get involved in economic development. This is also a challenge to the Chinese from within," he said.

"As far as India is concerned," Sibal said, "we are a far more egalitarian and far more open society. We have played by the rules of the game, we have lowered our tariffs, we have allowed world trade to flourish and have a system through which most of the trade is really conducted by private enterprises. That is the real difference between India and China," the Minister said. PTI