India, China working to address trade imbalance issue: Top official

New Delhi: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said on Monday that India and China were working to address concerns over bilateral trade, including the structural imbalance and supply-chain challenges.

The two countries are exploring measures to narrow the trade gap and make cross-border commerce more balanced, the official said here.

The BRICS meeting in New Delhi, last week, provided an opportunity for senior officials from the two countries to take up trade concerns, with more talks expected as India and China work toward resolving the issues that have strained their economic relationship.

“Both sides are working to address trade concerns,” the Commerce Secretary said, adding that structural issues surrounding the trade deficit and supply chains were being examined.

India has been seeking greater market access for its products in China as it looks to diversify and strengthen its export base.

Engineering goods, electronics, petroleum products and chemicals are among the key categories driving India’s exports to China, according to the Commerce Secretary.

The comments come against the backdrop of a significant trade imbalance between the two countries, with India importing substantially more goods from China than it exports.

New Delhi has repeatedly highlighted the need for a more balanced trading relationship, particularly by expanding access for Indian products in the Chinese market.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, at a bilateral meeting held here last weekend, underlined the need to address the concerns of the two countries on the structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues, and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

“The two leaders took note of the progress in people-to-people ties and underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between the two countries. On economic and trade relations, they underlined the need to address each other’s concerns, including structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues, and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access,” the statement said.

The two leaders held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the ongoing BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi, marking Xi’s first visit to India in nearly seven years and the third consecutive year in which the two leaders have met, following their meetings in Kazan and Tianjin.

China-India relations have developed, with both sides keeping in mind the long-term development of bilateral relations from a strategic perspective,” Xi said during his meeting with PM Modi.

Xi said that although China and India are different, the two countries have been able to “support and help each other to achieve common development.”

IANS