Indian embassy pitches deeper economic engagement with Chinese businesses

New Delhi: Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Doraiswami has met senior representatives of various Chinese companies and conveyed the embassy's readiness to facilitate greater economic and commercial engagement with India.

Doraiswami held a luncheon interaction with select Chinese businesses and friends of India on July 7, the Indian Embassy posted on X on Wednesday.

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"He exchanged views with company chairpersons and senior representatives, and conveyed the Embassy's readiness to facilitate greater economic and commercial engagement with India," it said.

The development comes in the backdrop of China overtaking the US to become India's largest trading partner in 2025-26, with bilateral trade reaching USD 151.1 billion, according to data from the Commerce Ministry.

The outreach comes days after Doraiswami said Chinese investments in India were "good for the larger country-to-country relationship".

"As the relationship is moving towards normalisation, the government of India has taken steps to re-establish opportunity for Chinese businesses to invest in the Indian market," he said last week, in an apparent reference to the recent easing of restrictions on Chinese investments.

"If Chinese business partners are interested, the Indian embassy is willing, not just to help make the investment happen, but also to listen to their concerns and find ways in which we can offer more hand-holding assistance to enable the businesses to come into India," Doraiswami said while addressing a panel discussion at the World Peace Forum organised by Tsinghua University here.

Doraiswami also pitched for greater Indian pharmaceutical exports to China.

"We think there is a balance of advantage for both countries, including value for China and, of course, value for the relationship," he said.

The ambassador recently held talks with Wang Liping, Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs in China's Ministry of Commerce, to discuss initiatives to boost bilateral trade.

He expressed hope that Chinese partners would facilitate access for Indian manufacturers of high-quality generic medicines, which are exported to the US and other markets, to the Chinese market as well.

Trade and commerce remain an important component of India-China relations, he said.

India's exports to China rose 36.66 percent to USD 19.47 billion during 2025-26, while imports increased 16 percent to USD 131.63 billion.

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The trade deficit widened to an all-time high of USD 112.16 billion, up from USD 99.2 billion in 2024-25.

India has consistently urged China to provide greater market access to its information technology, pharmaceutical and agricultural products, but with limited success.

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