China to raise imports; India stands to gain

China, the world's largest exporter, today said it will take steps to increase its imports and reduce trade surplus, a move which will help India step up its exports to the neighbouring country.

"... In 2010, China will adopt the policies and measures to further expand import," Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.

It added that the country would take measures like faster and efficient clearance of quality and quarantine inspections and come out with stable policies to promote imports.

On exports of $1.2 trillion, China had a trade surplus of $196 billion in 2009.

However, China's imports rose faster than its exports this year. In January-February period, exports increased by 31.4 per cent while imports went up by 63.6 per cent, it said.

Trade surplus for the two-month period fell by 50.5 per cent to $6.81 billion, compared to the same period last year.

India, which had huge trade deficit - $23 billion in 2008-09 — with China, has been repeatedly asking the its neighbour to hike imports.

India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma during his visit here in January had expressed concerns over the trade imbalance and urged the Chinese authorities to expand imports from India.

The western economies which are limping out of recession have also been demanding that China should increase its domestic consumption and reduce the trade gap.