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(THE GIST OF PIB) Bilateral trade between India and China

[JANUARY-2022]

Bilateral trade between India and China crossed 125 billion USD in 2021, according to Chinese customs data released.

Despite a protracted border standoff, Two-way trade between India and China in 2021 stood at 125.66 billion USD, up 43.3% from 2020 when bilateral trade was worth 87.6 billion USD.
In 2021, China’s exports to India were 97.52 billion USD, up 46.2%, while China imported 28.14 billion USD worth of goods from India, up 34.2%, according to statistics released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
Trade deficit between the two countries remained in favour of China – at $69 billion. The deficit in trade has been a constant source of friction between New Delhi and Beijing, with India complaining that China hasn’t given Indian companies access to sectors like pharmaceuticals.
The widening trade deficit with China can be attributed to two factors: narrow basket of commodities, mostly primary, for exporting to China and the lack of market access for most India’s agricultural products and the sectors where India is competitive in, such as pharmaceuticals, and IT.
The USA maintained its place as China’s third-largest trade partner following ASEAN and the European Union.
In pre-pandemic times in 2019, the bilateral trade was 92.8 billion USD and both countries were aspiring to touch the mark of 100 billion USD. Due to COVID, India-China trade in 2020 declined to 87.6 billion USD, the lowest since 2017.