Indian exports to China witness growth

Government makes sustained efforts to achieve a more balanced trade with China

Strict measures in the form of trade remedies taken to curb unfair trade practices

The exports from India to China have increased from USD 13.33 billion in 2016-17 to USD 21.19 billion in 2020-21, exhibiting growth. The trade with China was USD 87.07 billion in 2018-19, which registered a decline in 2019-20 to USD 81.87 billion, and was USD 86.40 billion in 2020-21.

The merchandise trade data of India’s exports to and imports from China, total trade and trade deficit, for the period FY 2017-18 to FY 2021-22, is as under:

(Values in USD billion)

YEAR	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Import	76.38	70.32	65.26	65.21
Export	13.33	16.75	16.61	21.19
Total trade	89.71	87.07	81.87	86.40
Trade deficit	63.05	53.57	48.65	44.02

(Source: DGCIS)

The Government of India has made sustained efforts to achieve a more balanced trade with China, including bilateral engagements to address the non-tariff barriers on Indian exports to China. The Government has also taken measures in form of trade remedies (Anti-dumping, countervailing duty etc.) against unfair trade practices and formulated technical regulations and also issued quality control orders to check substandard imports.  Efforts have also been made to source critical supplies from alternate sources and sensitize the concerned ministries/departments to ramp up domestic capacities.

The Government has also launched schemes such as Production Linked Incentive Schemes (PLIs) to promote domestic manufacturing capacities in critical sectors such as Key Starting Materials(KSMs)/Drug Intermediates(DIs), Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients(APIs), domestic manufacturing of Medical devices, and for Pharmaceuticals apart from electronic components & mobiles, white goods (ACs and LEDs), Specialty Steel, Food Processing industry, High efficiency Solar PV modules, Drones and Drone Components etc. These schemes will promote domestic manufacturing capacities and attract investment and reduce dependency on imports from China.

Government of India follows a multi-pronged strategy to promote trade in services, which involves negotiating meaningful market access through multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements, trade promotion through participation in and organization of international fairs/exhibitions and addressing domestic sectoral challenges and difficulties which are identified through periodic consultations with the stakeholders. Moreover, efforts are made to engage with the nodal Ministries/Departments to pursue a domestic reform agenda to make the services sector competitive globally.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Trade remedies and manufacturing incentives aim to curb unfair imports and bolster domestic production reducing import dependency. The Government has deployed trade remedies, technical regulations and quality control orders to address unfair trade practices and substandard imports from China, engaged bilaterally on non tariff barriers, and promoted import diversification. Complementary industrial policy measures include Production Linked Incentive Schemes (PLIs) across pharmaceuticals, electronics, white goods, specialty steel, food processing, solar PV and drones to expand domestic manufacturing capacity, attract investment and reduce dependency on imports while services trade is advanced through market access negotiations and targeted trade promotion.