The trade deficit between India and China in April-June this fiscal year fell to $5.48 billion as compared to $13.1 billion in the same period last year, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
In a written reply, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the bilateral trade between the countries too dipped to $16.55 billion during the first three months of 2020-21 as against $21.42 billion in the same period last year.
"Government has consistently taken steps to balance our trade with China by increasing our exports to China and reducing our dependence on imports from China," he said.
In a separate reply, the minister said at present, about 550 tariff lines (or products) are under the restricted/prohibited category for imports under the Foreign Trade Policy. Imports of these products are restricted from all countries, including China.
Replying to a separate question, he said merchandise exports from special economic zones (SEZs) dipped to Rs 81,481 crore during April-August, 2020 as against Rs 1,30,129 crore in the same period of 2019-20.
"However, services exports have shown a growth of 9 per cent during April to August 2020 in comparison to the corresponding period of previous year," he added.