Morning Brief Podcast (ET Bureau)
India's Biggest Trade Partner Is China, Now what?
Anirban Chowdhury | 18:20 Min | May 07, 2026, 6:18 AM IST
China just surpassed the US as India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting $151 billion and a trade deficit that has ballooned to an all-time high of $112 billion. Beijing has also rolled out sweeping new supply chain rules that could penalise companies moving manufacturing out. So what does this mean for India? John Quelch, American President, Executive Vice Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of Social Science, Duke Kunshan University argues the deficit isn't the real story. China plays a long, calculated game — on tariffs, on technology, on geopolitics. India needs to learn to read that game, not react to it. From the Trump-Xi summit to robots, rare earths, and the untapped potential of two ancient civilisations — this conversation reframes everything.