New Delhi, November 8
Despite a military standoff, India-China trade crossed the $100-billion mark in October this year, according to the data released by China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Sunday.
Registering an increase of 22.2 per cent as compared with the same period last year, the GAC data showed overall trade volume between India and China was $102.29 billion, with the balance of trade heavily tilted in favour of Beijing.
China’s exports to India stood at $78.33 billion, while India exported goods worth $23.96 billion to China.
While the two countries are ranged against each other on security issues, their economies have been showing complementarities as China heads for the number one position in GDP and India for the third slot, with the US in-between.
China will become world’s largest economy by 2030 while India will become third largest economy by 2050. At present, China is the world’s second largest economy and India fifth. India’s exports to China are mainly of iron ore, cotton and commodities while India largely imports mechanical and electrical machinery and medical supplies.