Outbound shipments to the northern neighbour climbed 24.7% from a year earlier to $10.03 billion during April-October. Petroleum products, telecom instruments and marine goods led the strong performance. Total merchandise exports in the period, however, inched up by a marginal 0.63%.
“This is one of the most resilient phases in bilateral trade in recent years, especially at a time when global demand remains uncertain and several major economies are facing contraction in their export sectors,” said an official.
China remained India’s top import destination, supplying $73.99 billion worth of goods during April-October. New Delhi’s trade deficit with Beijing stood at $64 billion during the period.
ET BureauPetroleum Product Demand
Exports to China began with a 11% on-year rise in April, accelerating to 28% in July, and 33% in September, the data showed. China was India’s fourth-largest export destination in April-October.Robust shipments to China in October are an outlier compared to India’s overall export performance.
During the month, total exports contracted 11.8% to $34.38 billion due to the impact of 50% tariffs imposed by the US with effect from August 27.
It widened India’s trade deficit to a record $41.68 billion amid higher gold imports.
While disaggregated data for October is unavailable, petroleum product exports to Beijing more than doubled to $1.48 billion during April–September, highlighting strong industrial fuel demand within China.
Telecom instruments emerged as another high-growth category, with exports surging more than threefold to $778.23 million, from $207.26 million a year earlier.
“India’s consistent month-on-month growth in exports to China through April–October signals a strengthening bilateral trade path,” the official said, adding that “the outlook for the rest of FY26 remains positive.”
Marine product exports to China increased to $659.27 million, from $548.36 million.