Indian envoy holds talks with senior Chinese commerce ministry official on trade ties

Beijing: Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Doraiswami on Monday met a senior Chinese Commerce Ministry official and discussed issues related to trade and commercial cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador Doraiswami met Wang Liping, Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Commerce of China, the Indian Embassy here said in a post on X.

"They exchanged views on various aspects of trade and commercial cooperation, including the bilateral dialogue mechanisms and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest. They agreed to remain in touch," the post said.


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Both countries are currently in the process of normalising relations post the Eastern Ladakh conflict in 2020, which had frozen their ties.

Currently, both countries have resumed Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra, visas, flights and a high-level dialogue mechanism.

Trade and commerce constituted an important component of India-China relations.

China has overtaken the US to emerge as India's largest trading partner in 2025-26, with bilateral trade reaching USD 151.1 billion, while the country's trade deficit with Beijing widened to an all-time high of USD 112.16 billion during the period, according to the Indian Commerce Ministry data.

India's exports to China rose 36.66 per cent to USD 19.47 billion during the last fiscal year, while imports increased 16 per cent to USD 131.63 billion.

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The trade deficit swelled to an all-time high of USD 112.6 billion in 2025-26 as against USD 99.2 billion in 2024-25.

India, over the years, has been demanding that China open its IT, pharma and agricultural sectors, which are India's strong areas.

Ambassador Doraiswami's meeting with Wang Liping is expected to step up India-China dialogue on issues relating to trade and commerce.