‘A reset and fresh start’: India–China bilateral trade hits record $155 billion

Commerce ties between India and China achieved a new feat in 2025, scaling a record high bilateral trade of $155 billion. This reflects a year-on-year growth of more than 12%, according to Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong. Addressing a gathering to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Xu said that Beijing is in support for India’s BRICS presidency and is willing to enhance multilateral coordination with New Delhi. Furthermore, China is also committed towards working with India to advance the broader development agenda of the Global South, he said on Tuesday, as cited by PTI. The ambassador pointed to last August’s “successful” meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin as a key moment in improving ties. He said that the interaction helped move the relationship forward, including in the area of people-to-people exchanges. “Last August, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a successful meeting in Tianjin, which led China-India relations from ‘a reset and fresh start’ to a new level of improvement,” Xu said. He pointed out that interactions between the two countries at various levels have become more frequent. At the same time, economic and trade cooperation has also expanded significantly. “In 2025, bilateral trade between China and India reached a record high of $155.6 billion, registering a year-on-year growth of over 12%,” he said. Xu further highlighted the growth in India’s exports to China, which rose by 9.7% during the year, saying this underlined the strong potential for further economic cooperation. Touching upon development priorities, the envoy said that China’s push for self-reliance aligns with India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. He also drew a comparison between the two countries’ global outlooks. “At the global level, China’s vision of a ‘world of great harmony’ echoes Indian’s pursuit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family),” he said. “We stand ready to work with India to draw wisdom from our traditional cultures, uphold the important consensus that China and India are each other’s cooperation partners,” Xu said, stressing the importance of aligning development strategies to expand mutual benefits and achieve win-win results. Relations between the two countries have been improving in recent months, following efforts to revive ties that were severely strained after the June 2020 Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese troops. The prolonged military stand-off came to an effective end in October 2024.