'Dragon-Elephant Tango' charts course for China-India relations

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tianjin, north China, August 31, 2025. /Xinhua

As time-honored civilizations, large developing countries and important members of the Global South, China and India both stand at a crucial phase of their respective modernization endeavors.

How the two major Asian neighbors manage their ties shapes regional stability and the outlook for emerging‑market cooperation. The vision of a "cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant" – symbolizing a harmonious partnership between the countries' emblematic animals – offers a guiding framework for bilateral relations, calling on the two countries to be good-neighborly friends and partners helping each other succeed.

At the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi from September 12 to 13.

Speaking at a regular news briefing on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China and India are arranging a bilateral meeting between Xi and Modi during the upcoming summit."This will mark the third consecutive year in which Xi and Modi meet, following their meetings in Kazan and Tianjin," Mao said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Manila, the Philippines, July 22, 2026. /Xinhua

Over the past two years, Xi and Modi have held successful meetings in Kazan and Tianjin.

The leaders of the two countries agreed that China and India are partners rather than rivals, and each represents a development opportunity rather than a threat to the other, setting China-India relations on the track of improvement and development.

A "cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant" should be the right choice for the two countries, Xi stressed while meeting with Modi during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in north China's Tianjin in 2025.

As long as the two countries keep to this overarching direction, specific matters in the bilateral relations will fall into place and there will be steady and sustained progress in bilateral ties, Xi told Modi.

During a meeting on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in 2024, the two leaders reached important consensus on improving and developing China-India relations, agreeing to view and handle bilateral ties from a strategic height and long-term perspective and prevent specific disagreements from affecting the overall relationship.

Xi urged the two countries to strengthen communication and cooperation, enhance strategic mutual trust and facilitate each other's pursuit of development aspirations.

Since this year, under the strategic guidance of the two leaders, China-India relations have maintained a momentum of improvement and development, featuring strengthened dialogue at various levels and deepened exchanges and cooperation across various fields, achieving positive results.

In June this year, Modi met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, stressing that under the current circumstances, the two sides should carry forward their traditional friendship, maintain high-level exchanges, advance practical cooperation and safeguard the common interests of Global South countries.

In July, Wang met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, calling on both sides to consolidate the positive momentum in bilateral relations and strengthen coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs.

In August, the 25th round of talks between the special representatives of China and India on the boundary question was held in Beijing, achieving an eight-point consensus.

Meanwhile, channels for people-to-people exchanges have been kept open. The two sides have resumed five direct passenger flights, reopened border trade after a six-year hiatus and agreed to take measures to facilitate the flow of trade, economic cooperation and investment between the two countries.

On the basis of peaceful coexistence, the two sides should explore the right way for two neighboring major countries to treat each other with mutual respect and mutual trust and achieve shared development and common prosperity, continuously injecting new impetus into China-India relations, Wang told Jaishankar.

An Indian merchant learns about digital packaging printing and pre-printing equipment at the Yiwu Packaging and Printing Expo in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, September 6, 2026. /VCG

With the joint efforts of both sides, institutional exchanges between the two countries have been gradually resumed, peace and tranquility have been maintained in the border areas, and bilateral trade volume has reached a new high.

"China-India economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win in nature," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun has said.

China has long remained one of India's major trading partners. Bilateral trade volumes reflect strong economic complementarity between the two large developing economies. In 2025, the total value of bilateral trade in goods between China and India stood at $155.62 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Amid global headwinds, businesses on both sides keep exploring opportunities in manufacturing, consumer goods, digital services and agricultural trade.

China is currently at a critical stage in its transition from a major manufacturing nation to a manufacturing powerhouse, with "Made in China" steadily moving up global supply and value chains.

Meanwhile, over the past decade, India has vigorously implemented its "Make in India" strategy, launching a series of supporting initiatives, such as the Production Linked Incentive scheme, to provide policy and financial support for key sectors like telecommunications, automobiles and photovoltaic products.

China demonstrates formidable strength in areas like electronics manufacturing, infrastructure, new energy and artificial intelligence, while India possesses distinct advantages in information technology, software development and biopharmaceuticals, said Xu Wei, consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Kolkata.

"Against the backdrop of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, industrial synergy between China and India will foster mutually beneficial outcomes, thereby elevating the standing of both countries within global industrial and value chains," Xu said.

In an article titled "Harnessing BRICS 'POWER' to empower the world" in The Hindu, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong wrote that China looks forward to working with India to translate the important consensus reached by the two leaders into concrete actions, being good-neighbourly friends and partners that help each other, and pushing China-India relations to move forward in a sustained, healthy and stable manner.