China hyperventilates over India's fresh 47 app ban; mouthpiece threatens firms' retreat

Ministry of Electronics and Information Techlogy on Monday banned 47 apps, which were variants and cloned copies of 59 apps banned earlier in June. se banned clones include Tiktok Lite, Helo Lite, SHAREit Lite, BIGO LIVE Lite and VFY Lite. Irked by Indian move, Chinese government's mouthpiece has said that Chinese investors' confidence in India will be battered and hopes of an improvement in bilateral ecomic relations will dim if India moves to ban Chinese apps following its previous block.

'Firms will retreat from country'

Global Times quoted an Indian daily in its report which said that India has drawn up a list of 275 Chinese apps that it will examine for any violation of national security and user privacy, citing people familiar with matter. According to Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, list includes gaming app PubG backed by China's internet giant Tencent, Zili by Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi, AliExpress by e-commerce giant Alibaba as well as apps like Resso and ULike from TikTok-owner ByteDance.

Among Chinese apps being scrutinized w are 14 MI apps by Xiaomi as well as lesser-kwn ones such as Capcut and FaceU, according to report. Quoting analysts and experts, China said that if  current tightened scrutiny leads to a ban on 275 apps, it will deal a huge blow to foreign direct investment (FDI) in India from China.

"It means nearly all capital from China will plummet to virtually zero," Global Times quoted Sha Jun, executive partner in India Investment Services Center of Yingke Law Firm as saying. "re was almost zero Chinese investment in India's manufacturing sector in first half. If fresh move against Chinese apps comes to pass, all Chinese firms will certainly prepare to retreat from country," he ted. As of December 2019, China's cumulative investment in India exceeded $8 billion, mouthpiece added.

READ | IT Ministry warns 59 Chinese Apps to comply with ban or face consequences; read details

ban came against backdrop of stand-off along Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops.  59 apps with Chinese links blocked by government included TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser.

READ | Is Clear Scanner a Chinese app? Origin country and developer details

China reacts to India's 'Digital Strike'

Reacting to India's ban of Chinese apps at a Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing, spokesman Zhao Lijian had said, China is strongly concerned about relevant tice issued by Indian side. We are checking and verifying situation. "I want to stress that Chinese government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international rules, local laws and regulations in ir business cooperation with foreign countries," he said.

READ | Is V Live a Chinese app and is it banned in India? All about its origin country, developer

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said India's surprise move to ban 59 Chinese apps was a "digital strike." "We banned Chinese apps to protect data of countrymen; it was a digital strike," Prasad said at a BJP rally in West Bengal, news ncy PTI reported.

READ | India bans 47 more apps; most are clones of 59 earlier-banned Chinese-origin apps

(With ncy inputs)