Today while I was researching for this article I observed that most of the things I am using are Made in China.
My Laptop - Made in China
My TV - Made in China
My Phones - One is Made in China and Other One Assembled in China.
My Keyboard and Mouse - Made in PRC (People's Republic of China).
My Printer - Made in China
Like all other Indians, I have always been price-conscious while buying things. Searching great deals on the Internet and finding the products which are the cheapest and suitable for my needs is like routine work for me. I’m a little tech-savvy and Chinese product fits best for me. They provide value for money. How I can boycott them?
This is not just my story but the story of whole India or we can say the story of the whole world. China is the manufacturing hub. We can’t deny this fact. We have to rely on the manufacturing and services from China. We cannot boycott them. Recent boycott movement, like any other movements these days, is emotionally driven and is of no use. These provide TRP for media houses, political parties jump to capitalise on these issues and provide government ample time and space to work on their futile policies as it keeps the general public busy and entertained (sort of).
Trade between India and China
In 2001, India imported $2 billion of goods from China while exported $1 billion of goods to China clocking the trade deficit of $1 Billion. In 2019, the trade deficit of India with China stands at $56 Billion dollars by importing goods of worth $76 Billion and exporting just $18 Billion of goods to China.
Import from India to China is a mere 3% of total China’s import, India is not even in top 30 China’s imported while it accounts 5.3% of the total export of India, making China our 3rd largest exporter. Imagine a scenario where the government put a ban on China import to India, though the government can’t because of world trade organisation norms, and China retaliates on this. China will not face even a minor blip in its economy while India will be devasted as China is our top importer. India’s reliance on Chinese product is so huge that we can’t even fathom the idea to run our economy without China.
The meagre export of India to the world is due to raw material imported from China. China provides cheap raw material which makes our companies competitive on global grounds. Either India doesn’t manufacture these products at all or the ones those are produced are of not superior quality or are expensive. In every case, if Indian firms start boycotting China then they have to shut their businesses.
Below are the sectors of India which more or less dependent on China’s manufacturing-
Pharma Sector: India’s pharmaceutical industry is the third-largest in the world and buys almost 70% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for their medicines from China, the world’s leading producer and exporter of APIs.
Auto Sector: Indian auto industry is fourth-largest in the world with a high dependency on Chinese manufactured parts. We import 30% of total automobile imports from China. Two-wheeler companies like Bajaj and TVS heavily rely on Chinese parts for there manufacturing.
Solar Secor: India has imported solar power equipment worth of $1200 million from China in FY20, as these were cheaper compared to the domestic counterparts. 84% of the solar requirement of the National Solar Mission is met through imports from China.
Electronic Sector: Tech equipment accounts for the largest import share from China, around 34% of total import. Most of the electrical equipments are assembled in India while the manufacturing is done in China.
There are many other sectors which are highly dependent on the factories behind the great wall. These firms can’t boycott China for their supply source. In India, we can provide a manufacturing environment for one or two sectors, but this can not be done for all the manufacturing done in China. We have to accept this reality that no one can’t beat China in manufacturing.
China and Indian Startups
Apart from manufacturing, many Indian startups relied on the Chinese money supply. In the previous year 2019, Chinese investor poured a record amount of $1.4 billion in Indian Startups. Two-third of Indian startup valuing more than $1 billion have a Chinese Venture capitalist on the board.
Below is a list of various startup funded by Chinese Money:
Byjus
Bigbasket
Ola
Swiggy
Zomato
Hike
Paytm
Dream 11
Gaana
Snapdeal and many more.
These startups provide a new ecosystem to India. They are the players of Indian growth story and like each startup they need money. They can’t boycott China’s money as if they do there will be a tremendous job and revenue losses.
What can we do?
Imports are never wrong, in fact, necessary for an economy to thrive. India is importing from China because of China’s efficient manufacturing capabilities. They provide cheap and quality supply source to India. Now it depends on India that how efficiently they utilize these supply products and come up with more innovative and advance products to sell in the global market.
We Indian have to work hard to compete from China. Rather than being a market of consumers, we have to transform ourselves into the market of the producer.
Deleting Chinese application from your phone is not a solution.
Boycotting Chinese phones and equipments is not the solution.
Burning the Chinese flag and Trending #boycottchina on social media is not the solution.
Forwarding WhatsApp message about Chinese product is not the solution.
Working hard and thinking innovatively is the only solution.
Buy a Chinese laptop of Rs. 1lacs, make it work for you. Sell your services to China and generate 3 lacs. Now you have recovered your 1 lacs and have Rs. 2 lacs more of China’s money. China gets Rs. 1 lacs for there manufacturing and you get double for your service. That is where you defeat China. This is true for the Indian companies also. They can import from China but they have to produce efficient products.
The best example of defeating China in economic terms is when movies like Dangal and Secret Superstar generated a revenue of Rs. 1200 Crore and Rs. 863 Crores from China’s box office, respectively.
Don’t just sit idle in front of TVs and laptops consuming loads of entertainment products. Do something which can provide value to this country. This is what nationalism is. Squabbling over religion and political issue is not nationalism. If you really want to defeat China, do something.
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