China-India trade ties are quietly gathering pace on the seas, even as geopolitical tensions continue to shape public discourse. The latest signal comes from global shipping giant Maersk, which has announced a new dedicated ocean freight service linking major Chinese ports with India’s western coastline — a move Chinese officials are already portraying as proof that commerce continues to outweigh politics. 

Yu Jing, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, highlighted the development in a post on X (formally twitter), saying Maersk’s decision to launch the FI2 feeder service and the opening of a new shipping corridor through Gujarat’s Pipavav port showed that “when the world’s largest container line bets on a trade lane, it’s not politics. It’s cargo math.” 

Bilateral trade hits record high 

The comments come at a time when bilateral trade between India and China has touched a record $155.6 billion in 2025, underlining the economic interdependence between the two Asian giants despite strategic rivalry and periodic diplomatic friction. 

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China remains one of India’s biggest trading partners, supplying critical industrial inputs such as machinery, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), electronics, and manufacturing components. India, meanwhile, continues exporting commodities and raw materials including iron ore to China. 

Against this backdrop, Maersk’s newly announced FI2 service is being viewed as a significant commercial endorsement of the India-China trade corridor. 

What is the FI2 service? 

According to the company, the first westbound sailing will depart Shanghai on June 4, 2026, with the weekly service designed specifically to address growing demand for additional cargo capacity between Far East Asia and the Indian subcontinent. 

The route will connect Shanghai, Ningbo, and Nansha in China with India’s Nhava Sheva and Pipavav ports before extending onward to Port Qasim in Pakistan via transshipment hub Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia. 

The service will operate with six vessels, each with a nominal capacity of 4,500 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), reinforcing the scale of trade flows moving through the corridor. 

Pipavav and the Dedicated Freight Corridor Advantage 

A major strategic advantage of the FI2 service lies in its integration with India’s Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) rail network through Pipavav port in Gujarat. 

By linking maritime freight with high-speed inland rail logistics, the service is expected to significantly reduce cargo transit times into northern India’s industrial and consumption hubs, including Delhi-NCR, Gurugram, and Noida. 

Industry experts say the multimodal connectivity could particularly benefit sectors dealing in high-value and time-sensitive shipments, including automotive components, chemicals, retail merchandise, and technology products. Faster inland movement also enhances supply-chain predictability — a growing priority for companies navigating global disruptions and rising logistics costs. 

Maersk bets bigger on India trade 

Thomas Theeuwes, Managing Director for Maersk South Asia, described the FI2 service as a direct response to customer demand for greater “capacity, consistency, and connectivity” on the China-India route. 

"By combining the weekly ocean service with our rail solution via the DFC, we are going a step further and giving our customers the true integrated logistics experience," he said. 

The FI2 service will complement Maersk’s existing FI3 route, together creating two direct Far East-India ocean services. The dual-service structure is expected to improve frequency options and routing flexibility for businesses while strengthening supply-chain resilience amid increasingly volatile global trade conditions. 

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The timing of the announcement is notable. Global shipping lines are reconfiguring trade routes to adapt to shifting manufacturing patterns, geopolitical realignments, and supply-chain diversification efforts. 

While several multinational firms have explored “China plus one” strategies that position India as an alternative manufacturing base, the latest shipping expansion suggests that trade between the two economies continues to deepen rather than decouple.

Published on: May 28, 2026 4:07 PM IST