India, China to resolve agri, pharma trade issues in shadow of trade war

The two countries are world's largest emerging economies, with 35% of world population and around 20% of world GDP

India-China trade talks, which ended on Tuesday, saw the two countries signing joint minutes, beating the earlier record of 2014 when it took almost a month to agree on a statement.

The Indian side was able to persuade China to give a commitment on accelerating market access for Indian non-basmati rice, rape-seed meal, soya-meal, pomegranate and pomegranate aril, okra, banana and bovine meat.

China has also agreed to resolve issues about Indian pharmaceutical exports. Over 240 pharmaceutical applications of Indian exporters are pending with China.

The two sides have agreed to promote bilateral trade in pharmaceuticals. India's exports in the sector was $ 27.11 million in 2016-17.

India's firm stance on the issue has led China to commit to providing market access after a long gap of more than 13 years. "After a persistent push from our side, China had allowed market access to three Indian food products - mangoes, grapes and rice - back then. Even among these, China later introduced further subcategories for rice, which meant basmati varieties faced difficulties in exports," a senior official from Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority said.

India's total fruit exports to its northern neighbour stood at $ 15.94 million in 2016-17, witnessing a massive 227 per cent year-on-year growth. On the other hand, vegetable exports were $ 3.43 million in the same year.

India has agreed to accelerate the provision of market access to Chinese pears, tagetes (marigold) seeds and apples. Before this, India had been importing apples, worth $70 million, and pears, worth $30 million.

The meeting happened in the shadow of the US-China trade war. The Chinese side noted India's concern regarding the long-existing trade imbalance and requests for market access for Indian products and services. It promised to address these concerns through the broad framework provided by successive joint economic groups (JEGs) and the Five-Year Development Programme for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and India, which was signed in September 2014.

The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation within the World Trade Organization, and other multilateral and regional frameworks, to maintain their common interest. Both the sides reiterated their commitment to rules-based multilateral global trade; said an official statement.

Both sides agreed there was a need to upgrade bilateral investment agreement to create a stable legal framework. The Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu asked the Chinese side to invest in manufacturing in India.

The ministers agreed to draw up a medium- and long-term roadmap with action points and timelines for increasing bilateral trade between the two countries in; a balanced and sustainable manner. Tuesday's minutes were signed after the 11th session of the China-India joint-group on economic relations, trade, science and technology began on Monday. The 30-member Chinese delegation was led by Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan.

The two countries are the largest emerging economies of the world, with 35 per cent of the world's population and around 20 per cent of the world's gross domestic product, but the relative volume of bilateral trade is less than 1 per cent of global trade.

             Demand for market access

• China has committed to provide expeditous market access from China for fruits such as bananas, pomegranates as well as other food products such as okra, non-basmati rice and bovine meat, among others.
• New Delhi has also pushed for greater bilateral trade in pharmaceuticals.
• On the other hand, access to the Indian market for Chinese pears, tagetes (marigold) seeds and apple has been committed by India.