Romans traded with China and India by sea—they even had a canal from the Nile River to the Red Sea. All sorts of things were traded back and forth. New evidence from Pompeii shows the Roman enjoyed Oranges originally from Southern China—grown in Pompeii. Silk was a hot property in the Roman Empire. Nubia traded with India as did Greeks. An aposle (Thomas?) when to India to preach the Gospel of Jesus.
One of my favorite historical stories is that the Byzantine empire (aka the eastern Roman empire) finally stole the secrets of silk when they sent an espionage mission to China and smuggled out silk worms hidden in bamboo stalks or some such.
This allowed the Byzantine empire to produce its own silk and probably helped it survive for a thousand years by having that silk trade.