Not only the border, but China is also a big challenge in front of India on the trade front.

Posted on 16th Dec 2022 by rohit kumar

In the year 2020, after the skirmish of the Indian Army with the Chinese forces in the Galvan Valley of Ladakh, on 9 December, once again there was a serious confrontation between the soldiers of India and China at the Yangtse border post of Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian Army says that some soldiers from both countries were injured in this skirmish, but more Chinese soldiers were injured.

 

After this skirmish, the voice of stopping trade with China once again started rising in India. Not only the border, but China is also a big challenge for India on the trade front. It is not possible for India to completely stop imports from China.

 

On one hand, India considers China as its enemy, on the other hand, there is a bitter truth that India is dependent on China to a great extent. Although India has been trying to reduce its dependence on China in the last few years but has not been successful so far.

 

How much is the import and export between the two countries?

According to the information shared by the Customs Department of China, in the first quarter of the year 2022 i.e. January to March, the trade between India and China increased by 15.3 percent on an annual basis. Bilateral trade between the two countries increased to $32 billion in the March quarter.

 

On the other hand, according to the data from the China General Administration of Customs (GAC), in the year 2021, India's trade with China reached $ 125.6 billion. This is the first time that China's trade with India has crossed $100 billion. In this figure, India exported just $28.1 billion while imported $94.57 billion. Looking at the pace at which the trade between the two countries is increasing, it cannot be said that everything has become normal between the two countries.

 

If we look at the data from the last eight years, it is known that India's trade deficit with China is continuously increasing.

 

What does India buy from China?

 

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha that India mainly imports goods like electronic items, TV cameras, auto accessories, chemicals, copper, cotton yarn, shoe slippers, steel, circuit, semiconductor, and fertilizer from China. About 55 to 56 percent of the Indian mobile market is occupied by China.

 

Even a Chinese company named SUGC (Shanghai Urban Group Corporation) is working in Delhi Metro. Apart from this, India buys about 60 to 70 percent of the chemicals used in the pharma industry from China.

 

What does India sell to China?

 

Our country exports many raw materials, including cotton, copper, aluminum, natural diamonds, and gems to China. Apart from this, food items like fish, spices, iron ore, granite stone, and petroleum products are exported from India to China.

 

Import of which things increased

 

According to the Ministry of Commerce of India, in the last year i.e. in 2021, there has been a record increase in the import of laptops and computers, oxygen concentrators, and acetic acid from China. On the other hand, India sells rice, soybeans, vegetables, fruits, cotton, and seafood items to China.

 

What steps is India taking to reduce imports from China?

 

Piyush Goyal said, 'The Government of India is taking several steps to reduce the trade deficit with its neighboring country China. At present, the Central Government is trying to strengthen the manufacturing sector of the country. And to strengthen it, the government has also started production-linked incentive schemes.

 

Chinese directors in 3560 companies in India

 

The Central Government presented the data related to China before the Parliament. Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of Corporate Affairs told the Parliament, 'According to the data of Corporate Data Management (CDM), there are 174 Chinese companies registered as foreign companies in India and the directors in 3560 companies are Chinese. ,

 

The government said that it is not possible to give the exact number of companies with Chinese investors or shareholders, as the data is not maintained separately in the system of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It is known that CDM is a type of data model, the purpose of which is to present several processes in the database in an integrated manner.

 

Business is growing despite the stress

 

Explaining the reason for this in a BBC report, JNU Professor Alka Acharya says, "The dispute between India and China has not happened for the first time, despite this, India has taken forward its relations with China. India has always wanted that May its relations with China remain better. Agreements have also been made between the two countries to keep peace on the border.

 

Due to its positive attitude toward India, the economic relations between the two countries got strengthened. But after the incident in Galvan, India changed its stand. However, even now the business relations between India and China cannot be stopped. Both countries need each other.

 

Face-to-face often happens in Arunachal

 

In Arunachal Pradesh, both sides patrol the area to the extent of their claims in some areas along the LAC in the Tawang sector. This has been the trend since 2006. Indian and Chinese soldiers often face off while patrolling in the area.

 

This is not the first time that there has been a face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers in this area of Arunachal Pradesh. In October 2021, a similar incident took place when some Chinese soldiers were detained by Indian soldiers for a few hours at Yangse.

 

Also Read: 'Not old India which lost land to China, it is Modi's New India', said Pema Khandu on clash with Chinese soldiers