China claims it is still India's top trade partner as per its data, not US

China on Tuesday insisted that it is still India's biggest trade partner in 2021-22 as per its figures and attributed the "disparity" to different methods of calculating the trade volume by New Delhi and Beijing while referring to reports that the US has unseated it to take the top slot.

"According to the statistics of Chinese competent authorities, bilateral trade volume between China and India stood at USD 125.66 billion in 2021," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing when asked about reports of the US overtaking China to become the largest trade partner of India in 2021-22.

"China remains the largest trade partner of India and for the first time the bilateral trade exceeded USD 100 billion in 2021," Zhao said.

"The disparity in trade figures published by China and India is a result of different statistical measurement scales," he said.

China follows the financial year from January to December, while India calculates the same from April to March every year.

At the same time, Zhao said, "China does not object to the development of normal trade relations between India and the US, and is not that interested in the changes of the ranking in trade volume", playing down the US, which is fast improving its relations with India with strategic tie-ups like Quad, (US, India, Japan, Australia) alliance unseating it from the top slot.

China has remained a dominant trade partner of India for a long despite the widespread concerns over the ballooning trade deficit every year.

Zhao declined to go into issues of trade barriers and other constraints being mentioned by Indian businesses, saying the details should be obtained from the Chinese Commerce Ministry.

For years India has been insisting that China should open its markets for India's IT and Pharmaceuticals, the country's main strengths of exports but Beijing is yet to oblige.

The trade deficit with China rose to USD 72.91 billion in 2021-22 from USD 44 billion in the previous fiscal year as per Indian figures whereas the US is one of the few countries with which India had a trade surplus amounting to USD 32.8 billion last year.

As per the Indian data, China was India's top trading partner from 2013-14 till 2017-18 and also in 2020-21. Before China, the UAE was the country's largest trading partner.

"What we care about is whether the Indian side has the will and takes real actions to create a fair, transparent, sustainable and sound environment for bilateral trade and investment, further expand mutually-beneficial cooperation between the two sides and deliver tangible benefits to the two countries and two peoples," Zhao said.

Asked whether the Ladakh standoff which cast a shadow on the bilateral ties for over two years is also impacting the trade ties between the two countries, he said, "At present, the border situation is stable in general. The two sides have been maintaining close communication through diplomatic and military channels."
To another question about reports of Indian investigations into the alleged violation of rules by Chinese phone makers ZTE and Vivo in addition to Xiaomi, Zhao said, "the Chinese government is closely following the situation."