Registered at $ 3 bn, India China bilateral trade continues to make steady growth in 2019

News Bharati    15-Jan-2020 17:22:26 PM
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New Delhi, January 15: India-China bilateral trade has continued to make steady growth in 2019. As per Chinese official data released to media yesterday, China-India bilateral trade stood at 3 billion US dollars as compared to 2018 as overall global trade was moderated in 2019. While bilateral trade is projected to be about 92.68 billion dollars in 2019, it was 95.7 billion US dollars in 2018, a record high till now. India’s Trade deficit with China also declined to about 56.77 billion US dollars in 2019 as compared to about 58 billion US dollars in 2018.

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Vice Minister of General Administration of Customs of China Zou Zhiwu said that China’s exports to India was 74.72 billion US dollars in 2019, an increase of 2.1% and China’s import from India was 17.95 billion US dollars, a decrease of 0.2%.Focussing on large trade deficit of India, he said, China welcomes more high quality products from India to big Chinese market. "Informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping last year created momentum for the growth of bilateral relations and bilateral trade will contribute to the growth of bilateral relations. China believes that deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries will make our bilateral trade more healthy and balanced", he said.

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Trade deficit has become a major concern in India-China bilateral relations. It is India’s biggest single trade deficit running with any country. India’s trade deficit is two-pronged, the sheer size of the deficit and its continuous widening year after year to reach 58.04 billion US dollars in 2018. During second informal summit in Chennai last year, the two leaders have agreed to set up new mechanism led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua to discuss trade, investment and services, first meeting of which is expected to take place this year.
 
The growth of trade deficit with China is mainly due to two factors, a narrow basket of commodities, mostly primary, that India exports to China and market access impediments for most of Indian agricultural products and its competitive sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, IT/ITeS, etc. India has been pitching for more market access to Indian IT companies, pharmaceuticals and agriculture products, including major commodities like sugar, rice, milk and milk products. India, being a large producer of these commodities can emerge as a most stable and cost effective source for China.