China will revise requirements to certain Indian rice exports and share information on the Brahmaputra River in deals signed between the countries June 9 that is seen to boost Indian shipments to China, Reuters reported.
The changes will cover Indian exports of rice other than the premium basmati variety to China, Reuters reported, citing a Twitter post from Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar, without providing details. Kumar also said there was an agreement on hydrological data on the Brahmaputra, which stretches from Tibet to the Bay of Bengal.
The agreement was finalized at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Beijing.
The Indian government has been seeking greater access to China for products such as rice, rapeseed, soybeans and sugar amid a rising trade deficit with China, which has jumped ninefold to $51 billion over the past decade, Reuters reported.
India had been unable to export rice to China, the world's biggest buyer of the commodity, due to strict standards on food and plant and animal hygiene, a New Delhi-based dealer with a global trading firm told the newswire.
"As the norms are going to change, India can easily export more than 1 million tonnes rice every year to China," the dealer said.
China's rice purchases are estimated to be 6.4 million tonnes in 2018, while India is expected to export 11.9 million tonnes, Reuters reported, citing United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation data.
