How dependent is China on India?

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• India sells 20% of what the world exports of other vegetable oils; next come Mexico (9.1%), United States (7.6%) and Spain (5.7%). The rest of the world exported 9.3 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 50.2% of what the world exports of prepared human hair; next come Bangladesh (10.3%), Myanmar (4.8%) and Italy (1.7%). The rest of the world exported 0.7 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 24.8% of what the world exports of pepper, dried chili and paprika; next come Vietnam (20.2%), Spain (5.7%) and Indonesia (5.4%). The rest of the world exported 7.7 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 46.6% of what the world exports of peanut oil; next come Brazil (15.3%), Argentina (12.2%) and Belgium (4.4%). The rest of the world exported 1.1 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 13.2% of what the world exports of salt; next come Australia (12.2%), Germany (7.7%) and Netherlands (7.7%). The rest of the world exported 12.4 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 54.8% of what the world exports of anise, coriander and cumin seeds; next come Egypt (6.9%), Vietnam (3.8%) and Afghanistan (2.7%). The rest of the world exported 3.8 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 30.1% of what the world exports of silk waste; next come Uzbekistan (9.5%), Germany (7.8%) and Vietnam (4%). The rest of the world exported 1.1 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 8.4% of what the world exports of hydrazine and hydroxylamine derivatives; next come Switzerland (39.6%), Italy (9.3%) and United States (4.3%). The rest of the world exported 86.8 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 36.8% of what the world exports of carded or combed cotton; next come Turkey (11.3%), Indonesia (9.1%) and Poland (3.7%). The rest of the world exported 14.9 times what China buys from India.
• India sells 24.3% of what the world exports of halogenated or nitrated aldehyde derivatives; next come Japan (6.8%), Germany (5.4%) and Singapore (2%). The rest of the world exported 2.9 times what China buys from India.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

China is India’s 3rd-largest customer, with 3.8% of its exports.

• Trade between China and India
• Who does China rely on?
• Who does India rely on?
• Dependence of China on Australia
• Dependence of China on Brazil
• Dependence of China on Indonesia
• Dependence of China on Vietnam
• Dependence of China on the United States
• Dependence of China on Guinea
• Dependence of China on Japan
• Dependence of China on South Africa
• Dependence of China on Chile
• Dependence of China on New Zealand
• Dependence of China on Thailand
• Dependence of China on South Korea
• Dependence of China on Canada
• Dependence of China on the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Dependence of China on Russia
• Dependence of China on Switzerland
• Dependence of China on Germany
• Dependence of China on Kazakhstan
• Dependence of China on the Philippines
• Dependence of China on France
• Dependence of China on Denmark
• Dependence of China on Namibia
• Dependence of China on Myanmar
• Dependence of China on Malaysia
• Trade profile of China
• Trade profile of India
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.