Indian media: China remains the key to India's strategic development

India's long-term strategic aim to become a manufacturing powerhouse for the world is "reliant" on Chinese firms, according to Indian media.

A commentary published on The Tribune, titled "Why India can't decouple from China," says Beijing is an indispensable partner in India's long-term goal to embed itself in the global supply chain. 

The author of the commentary stressed that the development of key sectors in India, including infrastructure and electronics manufacturing, is dependent on Chinese machinery, human capital and natural resources, such as rare earth elements (REE). 

"This long-term drive to make India well-connected with global supply chains is reliant on Chinese components, machinery and technology. Whether it be electronics, electric vehicles, or solar panels, manufacturing and/or assembling is dependent on components from China," according to the article.

The article also highlights the "indispensability" of China in the infrastructure sector, where Chinese companies can be "the sole supplier" for facilities such as cranes. 

Acknowledging the need to integrate Chinese partners to achieve its development goals, India may ease scrutiny on Chinese acquisitions of up to 49 percent in Indian firms, and relax policies to allow Chinese firms to bid for government contracts, the article reports. 

U.S.-imposed tariffs and mounting geopolitical pressure are some of the most important factors propelling India's shift to strengthen collaboration with China, the commentary analyzed.

Facing the global geopolitical and economic headwinds, China's manufacturing sector is displaying resilience and development, according to another opinion piece published on The Print on Wednesday.

The opinion piece, titled "China's manufacturing isn't declining, it is moving from scale to value creation," points out that an essential shift is taking place in China's manufacturing sector, where the country is moving from "scale expansion" toward "value creation."

This shift is visible in the statistics provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which shows that China's manufacturing activity returned to expansion in December 2025, with the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rising to 50.1, the first expansion since April. Purchases of higher value sectors, such as agricultural processing and high-end equipment, reached above 56 percent. 

The NBS projections indicate China is set to remain the world's largest manufacturing powerhouse for a 16th straight year. 

The article attributes the positive performance and projections to "structural upgrading" of China's manufacturing sector, which achieves "value creation" through two key levers.

Firstly, a focus on high-tech, intelligent and green production, and secondly, supportive policies that "convert innovation into scalable production and sustainable growth," the article says. 

Macro policy guidance is seen as a key driver of this shift. Made in China 2025, which is considered a "transformative initiative" has successfully advanced sectors such as electric vehicles, smart factories, 5G deployment, the C919 aircraft programme and shipbuilding.