Share of imports from China to India FY 2019, by type
Trade relationship between India and China
The trade relationship between the two major global economies started a few decades ago. However, India has had an unfavorable trade balance with China as the trade deficit gap has widened over the years. The Indian food product imports has struggled and it is evident in its decreased value since 2008. In 2019, China was India’s leading import partner. For the same year, China was also the second leading export partner of India.
India’s export value
India exported a variety of products to a long list of countries in the world. In 2019, engineering goods valued at more than five trillion Indian rupees was the leading commodity exported by India. The economic slowdown in 2019 and the current lockdown during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected industrial production across all sectors. Following this, the country's exports saw a drastic decline in various products.