China overtakes U.S. as India's biggest trade partner

China has officially overtaken the United States as India's largest trading partner, according to the Indian government's Economic Survey released this week.

The survey, covering April to October last year, showed the volume of trade between the Asia giants is now $150 million higher than two-way trade between India and the United States. That's a huge shift since 2002, when China-India trade was a quarter as large as that between India and the United States. In fact, China has also passed the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland over that period, the Times of India reported Friday.

The story also pointed to a structural shift in Indian trade, with Chinese imports to India besting exports by a 2.3 to 1 ratio. India's two-way trade to the United States is far different, with $3 worth of exports going the United States for every $2 of imports arriving from America.