India’s trade deficit with China reached $105.93 billion in nine months of 2026, with imports outpacing a 40% surge in Indian exports.

China’s customs office released the figures on 14 October. Total trade between the two countries came to $144.45 billion from January to September, up 25.4% from a year earlier.

India sold $19.26 billion worth of goods to China, a rise of 40.7%. It bought $125.19 billion worth in return, up 23.3%.

In plain terms, India spent more than six dollars on Chinese goods for every dollar it earned there.

The gap itself grew 20.7% on the year. China’s overall exports to the world also climbed 36.3% in September alone.

Indian factories buy chemicals, machinery and electronics parts from China. Shipments going the other way include naphtha, seafood, ores and farm goods.

Printed circuit boards have also moved from being a net import to a notable Indian export. Full financial year numbers from India’s Commerce Ministry tell the same story.

In 2025-26, trade reached $151.1 billion. Exports to China stood at $19.47 billion and imports at $131.63 billion.

That left a deficit of about $112.16 billion, up from $99.2 billion the year before.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called China’s non-tariff barriers, meaning rules and approvals that slow down foreign products, the biggest hurdle to trade between the two countries.

Leaders have raised it too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed market access, supply chains and trade structure at the BRICS summit last month, according to official reports.

At home, India has used anti-dumping measures, quality controls and production-linked incentives to build up its own manufacturing.

China will publish full-year data in early 2027. India’s Commerce Ministry will keep releasing its own numbers until then.

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