New Delhi: India’s trade data with China for 2023 reveals a significant discrepancy, sparking concerns over potential anomalies such as under-invoicing and misclassification, Mint reported.
According to World Bank data, India’s imports from China stood at $99.59 billion, 18.2% lower than China’s reported exports of $117.68 billion in FY23. The data gaps are not a new phenomenon and were noted for FY22 as well and the data gap has only risen in FY23. This discrepancy has widened from 15.5% in the previous year, with India’s imports valued at $102.63 billion, significantly lower than China’s reported exports of $118.50 billion in FY22.
China remains India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $118.4 billion in 2023-24. However, the significant gap in trade data raises concerns over revenue losses and inaccurate trade accounting.
Experts attribute the discrepancy to various factors, including under-invoicing, misclassification, and inconsistent reporting practices, the report mentioned.
Another important characteristic of the trade data discrepancy is that while India reported lower imports and China’s data noted higher exports for shipping goods, aircraft, textiles and clothing, iron ore, steel, base metals, medical devices, leather, paper, and glass while opposite trend was noted for imports of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, diamond, gold, and other valuable products, telecom, electronics, electrical products, and machinery and computers — India’s reported imports exceeding China’s export data, the report added.
“While discrepancies in trade data can arise due to methodological differences, the magnitude of these gaps — particularly in textiles and clothing, iron and steel, electronics, and remaining categories — requires deeper investigation,” Ajay Srivastava, former trade service official and the founder of economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) told Mint.
