China Becomes The Largest Trading Partner Of India in FY24

China has become the largest trade partner of India. The news has led to several discussions. United States imports and exports have decreased by some percentage. However, China and India’s physical and geographical relations often remain tense. However, India seems to depend largely on the Chinese market for the supply of electronics raw materials and finished goods. Things like Laptops and smartphones supply largely depend on the country. Let us explore more about India and China’s current relationship below. 

China now becomes the largest trading partner of India. The United States acquired the position for several years. However, the country has reached the number 2 now. Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) passed a report recently. It mentions a rise in the bilateral trade with China showing a fall in the bilateral trade with the United States. China has made a bilateral trade of $118.4 billion. Both imports and exports have a rise. Imports rose by 3.24% to $101.7 billion. However, exports also rose by 8.7% to $16.67 Billion.

On the other hand, the trade between the United States and India has declined. United States bilateral trade for the fiscal year 2024 was $118.3 Billion leading to a fall in both exports and imports. The exports fell by 1.32% to $77.5 Billion. At the same time, imports fell by 20% to $40.8 Billion. In conclusion from these reports, it is clear that India is currently having a high dependence on Chinese imports. The companies are further looking to build a solution in India.

Things like Laptops and smartphones are imported from China by more than 50%. As per the details, the mobiles and smart phone section have around 44% of the imports from China. It leads to a total monetary value of $4.2 Billion. While the imports of things like Laptops and PCs is by 77.7%. Thus, the country has a total import of $3.8 billion in laptops and PCs.

The question arises of what steps India has taken to reduce this dependability. Well, the government of India has taken several steps to make India Atamanirbhar. The important step in the tech segment is the PLI scheme. It refers to production-linked schemes. Under this scheme, the government will support 27 major companies in production and promote more exports from India. Other schemes include anti-dumping duties and quality controls.