Li Keqiang, Chinese premier, pledged on Tuesday to open China’s markets to Indian goods to help narrow India’s gaping bilateral trade deficit and boost mutual commerce between the two largest developing nations to $100bn a year.

“China never has the intention to pursue a trade surplus,” Mr Li told business leaders in the Indian capital, after saluting them with “namaste”, the traditional Indian greeting. “The Chinese side is willing to facilitate for more Indian products to access the Chinese market.”

Mr Li – who has also sought to reassure India over a recent three-week incursion by a Chinese patrol across the disputed “line of actual control” on their Himalayan border – was referring to Indian concerns over a trade deficit that reached nearly $41bn in the 2012-13 financial year.