India's Q1 trade deficit with China $9.6 bn

India's trade deficit with China in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal touched $9.6 billion, the commerce ministry said here Monday.

Giving details of steps to address the growing trade deficit, Minister of State for Commerce D. Purandeswari said in a written reply in parliament that in this regard the two countries have signed a series of memorandum of understandings (MoUs) on pharmaceuticals, buffalo meat and fisheries and an agreement on feed and feed ingredients.

The MoUs were signed during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India in May.

An MoU for the export of buffalo meat from India to China was signed between Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and AQSIQ also signed an MoU on co-operation for import and export of fishery products. The MoU aims to institutionalise co-operation in promoting trade of fishery products.

An MoU was also signed between the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products (CCCMHPIE). This MoU is expected to ease Indian generic drugs access to the Chinese market.

An agreement was also signed between Export Inspection Council of India (EIC) and AQSIQ on trade and safety of feed and feed ingredients.

The India-China trade deficit increased from $1.08 billion in 2001-02 to $40.77 billion in 2012-13.

Bilateral trade between has gone up from $2.09 billion in 2001-02 to a high of $75.59 billion in 2011-12, before falling to $67.83 billion during 2012-13.