Lockdown clamped in China during the pandemic period has hit the country’s industrial production badly. It also affected the economy of the dragon and banking sectors, providing an opportunity to India to emerge as an international manufacturing hub, according to experts.
China forged ahead after its entry to World Trade Organisation in 2001. At one stage, it even surpassed the US economy. Brands like Apple and Tesla opened their facilities in China. Exports from China during 2001 and 2021 increased four times. At the same time, the exports from USA dipped to 8 percent from 12 percent. However, the Covid-19 paralysed Chinese Production sector. It finally impacted the exports from China. In a way, the crisis in China impacted India too. Over a period of time, trade relations between India and China have improved manifold.
In 2020-21, exports from China to India were put at 16.6 percent, improving from 10.7 percent in 2013-14. At the same time, the exports from India to China registered an increase of 7.24 percent from 6.4 percent. The country exports chemicals, mineral fuels and other goods to China, while it imports electrical machinery, electronic goods and other goods from China. Because of the crisis in China, it is going to impact the bilateral trade with India. If India were to import goods it needed from other countries, the dependency on China would reduce. At the same time, India should improve its manufacturing industry’s capacity so that it will be able to attract global investment opportunities.
