Exports to China of pharmaceuticals, a sector considered crucial to India’s plans of reducing its trade deficit with its northern neighbour, remain restricted due to lax industry standards, high costs, and regulatory gridlock. After being assured of greater market access by Chinese authorities in March, India had pinned its hopes on boosting its pharma exports from the low $41 million worth of exports registered in 2017-18. But numerous instances of data falsification and inadequate documentation by the industry, and high export costs, delays due to procedural issues are still holding back the sector. Currently, pharma shipments make up only 0.3 per cent of the total $13.33 billion exports to China.

(Business Standard)