Commerce ties between India and China have achieved a significant milestone in 2025, scaling to a record high bilateral trade of $155.6 billion. This impressive figure reflects a year-on-year growth of more than 12%, as announced by Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong during a recent address.
Ambassador Xu's Remarks on Strengthening Ties
Addressing a gathering to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Ambassador Xu highlighted Beijing's support for India's BRICS presidency and expressed willingness to enhance multilateral coordination with New Delhi. Furthermore, he emphasized China's commitment to working with India to advance the broader development agenda of the Global South.
Key Diplomatic Interactions
The ambassador pointed to the "successful" meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin last August as a pivotal moment in improving bilateral relations. He noted that this 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 stated. He added that interactions between the two countries at various levels have become more frequent, while economic and trade cooperation has expanded significantly.
Trade Growth and Export Performance
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%. Xu further highlighted the growth in India's exports to China, which rose by 9.7% during the year. This increase underscores the strong potential for further economic cooperation between the two nations.
Alignment of Development Priorities
Touching upon development priorities, the envoy noted that China's push for self-reliance aligns with India's Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. He also drew comparisons between the two countries' global outlooks, stating that China's vision of a 'world of great harmony' echoes India's pursuit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family).
"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 emphasized. He stressed the importance of aligning development strategies to expand mutual benefits and achieve win-win results.
Recent Improvements in Relations
Relations between India and China 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, paving the way for renewed diplomatic and economic engagement.
This positive trajectory in bilateral relations, coupled with robust trade growth, signals a promising future for cooperation between the two Asian giants on both regional and global platforms.
