India, China start discussions on trade concerns; expected to hold more meetings going forward

New Delhi: India and China have started discussions to address bilateral trade concerns, including structural trade imbalances and supply chain issues, with the two sides expected to hold more meetings to take the engagement forward, according to Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal.

Agrawal said on Tuesday that the recent meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao was an initial discussion aimed at understanding each other's positions on various trade-related issues.

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"I think there will be meetings subsequently also to take these discussions forward. These discussions are happening after a long gap. So, slowly, each side will need to come up with their issues and also their position on issues of the other side, so that we can take this forward," the secretary told reporters here.

He said that there have been improvements in the relations between the two countries over the last one year in terms of people-to-people movement, and direct connectivity flights - operating from Beijing to Delhi or Guangzhou to Delhi.

"Both sides should work together to address each other's concern in the trade space...also look at the structural trade imbalance, supply chain issues, and how to build trust in the trade between the two sides...I think both sides are engaged to understand each other's position on many of these issues," Agrawal said.

"So this is a work in progress. On trade, we have started engaging. Both sides are engaging very positively....They have also opened up...We are also open to engaging with them to find solutions to our trade issues in a manner so that we can structure, we can address supply chain issues, we can address structural and trade imbalances," he said.

The meeting between the two ministers on September 12 assumed significance as China is the second largest trading partner of India.

The bilateral trade between the two countries rose 7.9 per cent in 2025-26 to USD 127.7 billion from USD 118.39 billion in 2024-25.

India's exports to China grew 36.62 per cent to USD 19.47 billion in 2025-26 from USD 14.25 billion a year ago. Imports, on the other hand, rose 16 per cent to USD 131.62 billion during the period.

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The trade deficit widened to USD 99.19 billion in the last fiscal from USD 85 billion in 2024-25. This is an area of concern for the country.

There are also issues related to investments from China as India has tightened its FDI policy for countries sharing land borders with India.

India received foreign direct investment (FDI) worth USD 2.51 billion during April 2000 and March 2026.

During April-August 2026-27, India's exports to China increased to USD 9.61 billion from USD 6.93 billion a year ago. Imports from China, on the other hand, rose to USD 65.49 billion from USD 51.56 billion during the period.

The main export sectors where India has recorded healthy growth include engineering goods, electronic items, petroleum products, organic and inorganic chemicals, and iron ore.

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