China’s new regulatory norms that were announced by that country’s government may prove to be a boost to India’s pharmaceutical and medical equipment industry, Hindu Business Line reports.

As per the report, India’s Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council (Pharmexil) has received notification that China’s General Office of the State Council has released new guidelines that aim at encouraging innovation in drugs and medical equipment.

India has been a major player in clinical trials and has been a destination for many pharmaceutical majors from the US and Europe.

A few Indian majors such as Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma are already operating in China.

According to government data, India’s exports to China stood at $10.17 billion in 2016-17 while imports were at $61.28 billion.

The India-China bilateral trade has reached $84.44 billion last year.

A rare novelty of the bilateral trade otherwise dominated by the Chinese exports was about 40% increase of Indian exports to China in 2017 totalling to $16.34 billion, data of the Chinese General Administration of Customs accessed by PTI here showed.

The bilateral trade in 2017 rose by 18.63% year-on-year to reach $84.44 billion. It is regarded as a landmark as the volume of bilateral trade for the first time touched $80 billion, well above the $71.18 billion registered last year.