Despite the slew of retaliatory economic actions taken by India, China has announced that it has no plans of engaging in a tit-for-tat trade restriction exchange with its next-door neighbor. Officials announced on Thursday that the country is looking to find a more peaceful resolution to the conflict, which started after military troops from both sides clashed at a disputed border last month.
Since the deadly border clash, India has rolled out a number of measures aimed at reducing China's access to its various markets. Earlier in the week, India announced that it has banned 59 Chinese mobile apps after a nationwide call for the country to reduce its dependence on Chinese-made products. This was then followed by reports of an alleged plan to encourage local telecommunications companies to boycott the use of equipment supplied by Chinese firms such as ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies.
China's Ministry of Commerce told reported that India should stop targeting Chinese exports as it is ultimately detrimental to businesses on both sides. The ministry is calling on India to help ensure the stability of the trade ties between both nations. Ministry spokesperson, Gao Feng, stated that China attaches a lot of impertinence in its relationship with India, particularly its existing cooperation in various fields that have yielded positive results so far for both nations.
Following the deadly clash last month, military officials from both sides had agreed to immediately de-escalate tensions to prevent any further casualties. Commanders from both sides had reportedly agreed to disengage and pull out troops, while they engage in further talks.
On Wednesday, Indian customs had reportedly finally allowed Chinese imports, which had been stuck at ports, to enter the country. This was after several Indian industry bodies had lodged complaints with the government for the blockage.
While officials may have agreed to stave off any further trade and military action, anti-China sentiments in India have remained high. The public outcries to boycott Chinese products have continued and importers of Chinese-made goods are now under immense pressure.
Other officials, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are apparently still against engaging in a trade ceasefire with China. The official fanned the flames on Wednesday, after deleting his official account on Weibo. The move followed the banning of the 59 Chinese apps, which included the popular short video platform TikTok and the Chinese messaging app WeChat.
China had publicly protested the ban, stating that it was discriminatory and may violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. If India continued with its trade actions, China could stand to lose billions of dollars in revenues from its exports. India imports massive amounts of goods from China, including mobile phones, iron ore, and consumer electronics. Last year, total Chinese exports to India were worth an estimated $74.83 billion.
