Why can China not be India’s trade partner despite Xi Jinping’s assurances?

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the border problem with PM Narendra Modi will not allow the general Chinese-Indian relationship to define the relationship, the two countries cannot be long-term business partners.
PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the improvement of binary bonds.
All eyes were involved in bilateral meetings between the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SHO) in Tianjin between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. After having a discussion on how to develop the bilateral trade, the two sides acknowledged that India and China were “not competitors, development partners”. The meeting took place after the increasing tensions between India and the United States, as President Donald Trump took 25% of the basic tariffs of 25% and on the cumulative 50% tariffs by applying 25% punishing additional tariffs.
Can India-China Trade Partners?
Analysts believe that India-China Bonhomie will send strong signals to Washington while discovering new ways for cooperation. However, a Cursory analysis reveals that the two countries cannot have long trade partners. After the elaborate economic reforms initiated by the then leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s, China became a world of production in the world. China’s production production in 2024-25 financially took place on 4.66 trillion dollars or 27.7% of the global share. During this period, there was a trading surplus of $ 1 trillion.
How is the US economy different?
On the other hand, the US is a productive economy instead of production, consuming more than it produces and imports to a large extent. Global trade was 5.4 trillion dollars in 2024 financially. While exporting products worth 2.1 trillion dollars, it imported goods worth 3.3 trillion dollars and experienced a trade deficit of $ 1.2 trillion. While the US imported goods worth $ 87.3 billion from India, it imported a trade deficit of $ 128.9 billion by importing products worth $ 41.5 billion.
China: Production Center
The US economy is completely different from the Chinese economy. China, a manufacturing center, wants to export more and more and leave its products from neighboring countries to Latin America and Africa. India-China Bilateral Trade reached $ 127.7 billion in 2024 financially and the new Delhi experienced a trade deficit of $ 99.2 billion. Since the US-China Trade War will increase shortly after a stagnation, China will have more capacity and will put pressure on the new Delhi to absorb more products.
How are India, Chinese competitors?
Since Trump provides a 15% tariff in the EU, the 27 -national block is likely to compete to China in this market. China can find it easier to evacuate cheap products in India and expands the trade gap further. Under these circumstances, it is clear that India and China cannot be trade partners.

How can India cooperate with China?
However, there are ways for cooperation. China can invest in India and make it a production center by considering cheap labor and export infrastructure such as roads and ports. Since Beijing focuses on artificial intelligence, machine learning, electric vehicles, space science and aviation, many other industries can shift to India. For both countries, there may be a win-win.
It can also cool political heat and border problems, or at least put controversial problems on the rear burner. China’s state -controlled news agency Xinhua reported XI. “We should not allow the border problem to define the general Chinese-Indian relationship.” He said. However, it is difficult to achieve this considering the ground realities.
FAQ
Q1: What was China’s share of global production output in 2024-25 financially?
Ans: China’s global trade was 5.4 trillion dollars in the 2024 fiscal year. While importing goods worth 3.3 trillion dollars, the products exported at a value of $ 2.1 trillion have created a trade deficit of $ 1.2 trillion.
Q2: What is India-China Binary Trade?
India-China Bilateral Trade reached $ 127.7 billion in 2024 financially and the new Delhi experienced a trade deficit of $ 99.2 billion.
Summary
After the elaborate economic reforms initiated by the then leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s, China became a world of production in the world. China’s production production in 2024-25 financially took place on 4.66 trillion dollars or 27.7% of the global share. During this period, there was a trading surplus of $ 1 trillion.

