Indians reject 'Made in China' post Galwan, whopping 43% turn back on Chinese products

Indian consumers have strongly rejected 'Made in China' products and approximately half of the people surveyed have not brought any products manufactured in the country in the aftermath of the Galwan clash, a survey revealed. According to a report by online firm LocalCircles on Monday, nearly a year after the LAC standoff which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, a whopping 43% of people have rejected Made in China products and have refused to buy goods manufactured in the country.

Made in China product survey

According to the details of the survey, after the violent Galwan clash in 2020, 34 percent of respondents said they purchased 1-2 Chinese products, 8 percent bought 3-5 of them, four percent of consumers bought 5-10 made-in-China products, three percent said 10-15, one percent said over 20, and another one percent said 15-20 products. The remaining six percent of Indian consumers did not have an opinion.

"The first question in the survey sought to understand how many products that were made in China did Indian consumers purchase in the past 12 months. In response, 43 percent said they did not buy anything made in China," the report said.

Additionally, the majority of people who purchased the Chinese goods said that they did so because it was the cheapest option available or they felt it was value for money. The survey was conducted between June 1-10,  on 17,800 people residing in 281 districts in India.

"It must be kept in mind that there are many Made in China products that do not have an Indian counterpart that offer similar or higher value-quality-uniqueness combinations. Similarly, many global manufacturers of gadgets and appliances have their factories in China producing for global demand and while such products may carry a global brand name, they are produced in China," the report stated.

Last year, the online firm had conducted a survey in November where close to 71% of Indian consumers said that they did not purchase Chinese products in the Indian market for the festive season.

Imports from China rise amid second wave

Even as Indians continue to reject Chinese goods, bilateral trade between the two countries when it comes to imports has increased by 42 percent year-on-year (YoY) during January-May 2021. This rise has been mainly attributed to the second COVID-19 wave in India which saw live-saving medical equipment and Oxygen being imported from China and rest of the world.

"Though Chinese trade with India declined in the calendar year 2020 by 5.6 percent to USD 87.6 billion, the 5 months of the calendar year 2021 show a 42 percent increase in Chinese imports by value," said LocalCricles, 

In reality, China's share in Indian imports for intermediate goods is 12 percent, and capital goods is 30 percent, while final consumer goods is 26 percent.

(With Agency Inputs)