China announced on May 9 that it will import chilli meals from India, providing a much needed export outlet to the product. A protocol has been signed with Chinese customs officials in this regard.

Chilli meal is the residue left after oil is extracted from chillies. It is widely used as an industry input in manufacturing chilli sauce and other similar products.

Chilli is the largest exported spice from India, and China has become one of the major buyers over the last few years. India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of chillies.

According to official data, red chillies are grown across India on 7,92,000 hectare of land in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The crop is planted in August and September, and is harvested in March and April.

India has been pushing for market access for agricultural and processed food products to China. Beijing is now committed to provide market access to India after a gap of more than 13 years. Last year, the country allowed market access to three Indian food products - mangoes, grapes and rice.

"But even among these, China later introduced further subcategories for rice, which meant basmati varieties faced difficulties in exports," a senior official from Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority said.

The meeting took place in the backdrop of the ongoing trade war between the US and China. Official from the country took note of India's concerns regarding the long-existing trade imbalance and requests for market access for Indian products and services.

China also promised to address these concerns through the broad framework provided by successive joint economic groups and the Five-Year Development Programme for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and India, which was signed in September 2014, an official said.

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