DPG China Monitor
China Monitor
Authors Ambassador Biren Nanda
, Sanket Joshi
Date: February 03, 2025
The monitor features developments related to China during the month and is compiled by our research team of Amb. Biren Nanda, Senior Fellow, and Sanket Joshi, Research Associate, from open-source reports and publications.
India and China continued their high-level diplomatic engagement during the month. India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, and China’s Vice Foreign Minister, Sun Weidong, held a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister mechanism in Beijing on January 26-27, 2025. They reviewed the state of bilateral relations and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilise and rebuild ties, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025; convening an early meeting of an expert-level mechanism to discuss the resumption of hydrological data provision and cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers; facilitating people-to-people exchanges; resuming air services; and resolving concerns in trade and economic areas through dialogue.
India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, said on January 18, 2025 that the India-China relationship is trying to navigate away from the complexities stemming from the post-2020 border situation, and outlined the challenges faced by India in establishing an equilibrium in ties with China. He stressed that, in the long term, India must prepare for manifestations of China's expanding capabilities, especially those directly impacting India’s interests, by pursuing the swift advancement of India's comprehensive national power.
On January 13, 2025 India’s Army Chief, General Upendra Dwivedi, described the situation along the border with China as “stable but sensitive”, even while noting that the situation in Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh had been resolved in October 2024, where patrolling upto traditional areas and grazing had also commenced. Gen. Dwivedi maintained that India will not reduce troops along the border with China in winter, and that summer deployment will depend on the outcome of further negotiations with China.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attended the inauguration ceremony of US President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, in Washington DC. He congratulated President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on their election and called upon the two sides to uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, which would benefit both countries and advance world peace and development.
Earlier, on January 17, 2025, President Trump and President Xi held a telephone conversation, during which President Xi emphasised Beijing's commitment to “push China-US relations to greater heights from a new starting point” and highlighted areas of common interest for cooperation.
President Trump pledged to impose a 10 percent tariff on imports from China in response to Chinese Fentanyl smuggled into the US through Mexico and Canada. Citing the threat posed by China, Trump refused to rule out military action or economic pressure to reclaim the Panama Canal and to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
Reacting to these developments, China reminded the US that there would be “no winner in a trade or tariff war”, while reiterating its intent to maintain communication, handle differences, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation. On the Panama Canal issue, Beijing stressed that it does not intervene in Canal affairs, respects Panama's sovereignty over the Canal, and recognises it as a permanently neutral international waterway.
Boosted by stimulus measures, China's economy grew by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, meeting the government’s annual growth target of 5 percent.
India and China continued their high-level diplomatic engagement during the month. India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, and China’s Vice Foreign Minister, Sun Weidong, held a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister mechanism in Beijing on January 26-27, 2025. They reviewed the state of bilateral relations and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilise and rebuild ties, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025; convening an early meeting of an expert-level mechanism to discuss the resumption of hydrological data provision and cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers; facilitating people-to-people exchanges; resuming air services; and resolving concerns in trade and economic areas through dialogue.
India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, said on January 18, 2025 that the India-China relationship is trying to navigate away from the complexities stemming from the post-2020 border situation, and outlined the challenges faced by India in establishing an equilibrium in ties with China. He stressed that, in the long term, India must prepare for manifestations of China's expanding capabilities, especially those directly impacting India’s interests, by pursuing the swift advancement of India's comprehensive national power.
On January 13, 2025 India’s Army Chief, General Upendra Dwivedi, described the situation along the border with China as “stable but sensitive”, even while noting that the situation in Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh had been resolved in October 2024, where patrolling upto traditional areas and grazing had also commenced. Gen. Dwivedi maintained that India will not reduce troops along the border with China in winter, and that summer deployment will depend on the outcome of further negotiations with China.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attended the inauguration ceremony of US President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, in Washington DC. He congratulated President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on their election and called upon the two sides to uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, which would benefit both countries and advance world peace and development.
Earlier, on January 17, 2025, President Trump and President Xi held a telephone conversation, during which President Xi emphasised Beijing's commitment to “push China-US relations to greater heights from a new starting point” and highlighted areas of common interest for cooperation.
President Trump pledged to impose a 10 percent tariff on imports from China in response to Chinese Fentanyl smuggled into the US through Mexico and Canada. Citing the threat posed by China, Trump refused to rule out military action or economic pressure to reclaim the Panama Canal and to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
Reacting to these developments, China reminded the US that there would be “no winner in a trade or tariff war”, while reiterating its intent to maintain communication, handle differences, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation. On the Panama Canal issue, Beijing stressed that it does not intervene in Canal affairs, respects Panama's sovereignty over the Canal, and recognises it as a permanently neutral international waterway.
Boosted by stimulus measures, China's economy grew by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, meeting the government’s annual growth target of 5 percent.
