By IANS,
Beijing: India Thursday denied reports in a section of the Chinese media and said it has not imposed any restrictions on Chinese goods.
The Indian embassy here said in a statement that Indian exports to China in the first six months of 2009 stood at $6.6 billion, a decline of 50 percent compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, Chinese exports to India in this period stood at $13.41 billion, which was a slowdown of only 16 percent.
“The value of Chinese exports during this period is double the Indian exports, which in turn is almost equal to the size of our trade deficit with China during this period, which stood of $6.41 billion,” said the pressnote.
It pointed out that in the last five years, Chinese exports have seen a 10-fold increase from $3.3 billion to $31.51 billion. On the other hand, Indian exports have only risen five fold to $20.34 billion in 2008.
“This would reinforce the fact that bilateral trade has been increasing and the rate of growth of Chinese exports to India has been maintaining a steady pace. In fact, in 2008, the growth rate of Chinese exports to India stood at 31.21 percent, which was highest in the top 10 destinations of Chinese exports.”
The embassy further said that the anti-dumping cases that India has initiated against China have been taken as per procedures enshrined in national laws, which applied uniformly to all countries. “Indian regulations apply uniformly and are not China specific,” it said.
It noted that anti-dumping investigations have not hindered the bilateral trade and are merely an instrument for ensuring fair trade in accordance with international laws.
India also expressed concerns about access of its agricultural products, including Basmati rice, to the Chinese market.
“During the meeting of the two sides early this year, the Chinese side had assured that relevant technical teams would be sent from China and specific progress would be seen soon. However, no progress has been seen with regard to giving market access to India for fruits and vegetables,” said the note.