Commerce ministry considers appointing Aamir Khan as India's brand ambassador to China to boost trade

That Aamir Khan is much loved in China is not news to anyone. Khan's movies tend to do exceptionally well in the Chinese box office and are superhit with the audience. To tap in on that potential, the commerce ministry has made a proposal to the external affairs ministry to appoint the superstar as India's brand ambassador to China to boost services exports and narrow the trade deficit.

According to a report in Mint, a commerce ministry official who wishes to remain anonymous said, "Aamir Khan has won the hearts of millions of common Chinese citizens. He can create tremendous goodwill for India in China. He can be our brand ambassador to China and present our prowess in services sectors."

He said that the proposal made to the MEA is under consideration.

India has a USD 51 billion merchandise trade deficit and around USD 270 million services trade deficit with China. The Indian government has already termed this deficit 'unsustainable'. In the recent 11th joint economic group between India and China, the latter's trade minister Zhong Shan agreed to sketch a medium and long term blueprint to address this massive deficit.

Khan, who could be instrumental in this move, is already a beloved figure in the country. His movies 3 Idiots, PK, Dangal and the recent Secret Superstar all performed exceptionally well in the often-unexplored Chinese market. Dangal went on to earn Rs 1,200 crore putting it on the list of one of the highest Indian grosser in history. Even Secret Superstar, where the actor has a cameo role earned an whopping Rs 800 crore. His movies also paved way for other Indian hits like Bajrangi Bhaijaan which is still running in Chinese theatres and has earned Rs 278 crore so far.

If this trend continues, China could very well emerge as the next biggest market for Bollywood movies. Nevertheless, it must be mentioned that a substantial portion of the earnings from the Chinese market go to their local distributor. China also only allows a handful of foreign films in the country, which means that the quota for Indian movies to release in the country gets even smaller.