At a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee has put her best foot forward to draw investment for the state, a Chinese industrialist was refused entry by NSCBI Airport officials earlier this month.

Chinese Consul General Mr Ma Zhanwu on Thursday alleged that industrialist Wu wanted to visit the city to explore investment options but was left dejected as he could not even enter the city as the Airport officials refused him entry on 1 March.

This incident has not gone down well with the Chinese Consulate of Kolkata as several Chinese entrepreneurs had shown interest in investing in the state after Bengal Global Business Summit.

After this incident, however, Chinese entrepreneurs may feel discouraged, officials of the Chinese Consulate in Kolkata said. The Chinese Consul General, Mr Ma Zhanwu, expressing his dismay at the recent events: “Mr Wu is a very famous businessman in China hailing from Jiangsu province and he was refused entry in the state. An Indian diplomat had only recommended his name to the Chinese Consulate General of Kolkata. It was very disappointing for us.”

He was speaking at a seminar ‘China-India Buddhist and Other Exchanges’ attended by Chinese and Indian scholars and organised by the Chinese Consulate in Kolkata on Thursday.

Mr Zhanwu lamented on the estranged ties of the two countries and said: “China is wrongly represented in Indian texts. China is very open to exchanges between other countries.We have had friendly exchanges in the past but both countries are not that close as before. Hope that scholars will make recommendations for strengthening ties between both countries.”

Meanwhile, Visva Bharati officiating vice-chancellor Sabujkali Sen, on the sidelines of the seminar, said that the Chinese Consulate was involved in the revamp of China Bhavan that had been founded by Tagore 80 years ago as a centre for Chinese studies.

“The Consulate has last month given Rs 60 lakh to renovate China Bhavan and always supports the student exchange programme between Visva Bharati and Chinese universities. This is an important part in furthering people-to-people exchanges,” Ms Sen said.