Beijing Claims India Is Lying, U.S. Did Not Overtake China as Top Trade Partner

China’s government on Tuesday claimed Beijing is still New Delhi’s top trading partner despite recent reports revealing that the U.S. had supplanted China in the ranking over the past fiscal year, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

“According to the statistics of Chinese competent authorities, bilateral trade volume between China and India stood at $125.66 billion in 2021. On that basis, China remains India’s largest trading partner, and the total trade volume topped $100 billion for the first time,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on May 31.

“The disparity in trade figures published by China and India is a result of different statistical measurement scales,” Zhao added.

China’s financial year spans January to December, while India’s last from April to March. PTI reported on May 29 that the U.S. had overtaken China to become India’s largest trading partner during the 2021-2022 fiscal year that ended in March, citing newly released data from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

New Delhi found that the value of merchandise trade between India and its traditional top trading partner, China, reached a high of $115.4 billion during the 2021-2022 financial year. While this figure represented an increase of 33.6 percent from the previous year, the statistic was ultimately surpassed by India’s trade with the United States during the same time period. The value of merchandise trade between New Delhi and Washington during the most recent fiscal year totaled $119.4 billion. This amount represented an increase of 48.3 percent from last year.

“For years India has been insisting that China should open its markets for India’s IT [Information and Technology] and Pharmaceuticals, the country’s main strengths of exports but Beijing is yet to oblige [sic],” PTI observed on May 31.

“The trade deficit with China rose to $72.91 billion in 2021-22 from $44 billion in the previous fiscal year as per Indian figures whereas the US is one of the few countries with which India had a trade surplus amounting to $32.8 billion last year,” according to the Indian news agency.

A reporter for the Indian public broadcaster Prasar Bharati asked Zhao about China’s alleged imposition of “some non-tariff barriers on Indian exports” during the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ regular press briefing on May 31.

“[W]hat steps China is taking to remove the non-tariff barriers and reduce the trade deficit between the two countries, which India has been demanding for a very long time?” the reporter asked Zhao.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman refused to answer the question, instead suggesting that Prasar Bharati ask China’s Ministry of Commerce about the matter.

“I would like to refer you to my colleagues at the Ministry of Commerce as your question concerns very specific matters. In principle, I would like to say that China never seeks trade surplus. We stand ready to take measures to advance normal trade with India,” Zhao replied.