In recent times, India and China have emerged as two major global suppliers of several products and services. China wholesale products have been flooding the world markets for the last two decades. However, certain hurdles do exist in trading with suppliers from India or China. One of the major hindrances is the barriers in communication, though the actual communication barriers differ widely for China and India. Language is a major issue for companies establishing manufacturing centers in China or source materials from Chinese manufacturers. The poor infrastructure and political issues are strong irritants in dealing with Indian suppliers. It is advisable to analyze the different types of hindrances in trading with Chinese and Indian suppliers.

In India, infrastructure is the first huge hurdle. Power supply is inadequate to meet the demands of industries in achieving high capacity utilizations. Due to frequent power cuts, manufacturing units and service industries without their own captive power plants are able to achieve only 60% to 80% of their full capacity. These power problems affect not only production but also constant communication between the suppliers and the sellers.

The second significant hindrance is the communication with the government officials and politicians, most of whom are corrupt. Unless bribes are negotiated and paid, nothing moves easily. If foreigners want to trade with suppliers from India, they should be ready to understand the subtle communications conveyed by those in power. The recent failure of a communication satellite of India and the 2G mobile phones scam has made communication between India and overseas even tougher. 3G technology and broadband Internet are yet to establish themselves at adequate levels in India. Unless, these communication channels and power supply improve and political interference and unnecessary regulations are reduced, trading with Indian suppliers would remain a major issue.

On the other hand, the success story of China wholesale trade growth in the past few decades has a strong resemblance to the tremendous growth that Japan achieved between 1960s and 1990s. Hence, many economists express doubt whether China would be able to sustain this growth or not like Japan. Further, majority of Indians have English as a compulsory subject in schools and colleges, even if they study in their local languages. In contrast, vast majority of Chinese are yet to learn English, with Chinese being the major medium of instruction. Hence, communication with most Chinese suppliers and labourers becomes difficult for foreign buyers. This would take time to change.