China's Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport confirmed on Friday that direct flights between India and China will resume later this month, ending a halt of more than five years and signalling a cautious easing of bilateral tensions. There have been no direct flights between China and India since 2020, even though China is India's biggest bilateral trade partner. In a statement on Friday night, the state-backed Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport noted the IndiGo announcement — the first comment on the move by Chinese authorities. "In the future, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport will also actively promote airlines to open direct routes such as Guangzhou and Delhi," the statement said. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that India and China were development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to strengthen trade ties amid global tariff uncertainty.