Indian entrepreneur Dev Raturi, who is living in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, personally experienced the strengthened ties in terms of trade and people-to-people exchanges between China and India.
Through his passion for Chinese culture and Indian cuisine, Raturi has been contributing to the growing bond.
"I'm a person who loves cultures and always wanted to know more about China after watching Bruce Lee's movies," said Raturi, founder of the Amber Palace Chain Restaurant.
Raturi came to China to pursue his kung fu dream in 2005. He then found his success in the catering industry, opening his own restaurant in 2013.
"There is a big cultural gap which needs to be filled. So I think being a proud Indian and a responsible person, I think that somehow, this is also my responsibility to contribute, because I learned a lot of things from China and Chinese friends," said Raturi.
At Amber Palace, all the chefs and key ingredients were brought directly from India to ensure an authentic dining experience.
"We celebrate all the major Indian festivals, like we have Diwali, we have Holi, we have Krishna Janmashtami, all these major Indian festivals, so that people know more about Indian culture. We also have lots of Indian clothes, Indian saree," said the Indian entrepreneur.
Over the past decade, he has opened over 10 stores in different cities in China. He attributed the fast growth to China's supportive business environment.
"I got my business license in 24 hours. I applied visa, and one week or 10 days, I got visa, so I have no issues. Nobody comes to give me trouble. Everybody comes to help me. So why should I leave the country? It's a land of opportunities," said Raturi.
The entrepreneur plans to open 20 more restaurants across China in the coming years. He says he is confident to achieve that with China's commitment to further opening-up.
"We get a lot of clients from the different parts of the world, and they love Indian food. And I can see that the business is increasing, it's not going down, so I didn't see that economy is going down. Otherwise, I would never open these restaurants," he said.
In his spare time, Raturi has acted in dozens of Chinese movies and TV dramas, which he takes as a special way to learn more about China.
About 1,400 years ago, Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar and translator Xuan Zang journeyed from Xi'an to India and brought Buddhist scriptures back to China.
Raturi said he hopes that this legacy of friendship will continue through future generations.
"Both of my sons, they speak fluent Chinese, they even can speak Shaanxi dialect. And I hope that when they grow up, they understand Chinese culture and they can be like a cultural ambassador, they can promote this beautiful culture to the world," he said.
Indian entrepreneur promotes cultural exchange in China
