New Delhi: India’s recent key policy amendment to Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) has miffed China. Beijing sources say that mandating central government approval for FDI proposals from neighboring countries would be detrimental to the spirit of free trade.
This decision was taken by Government of India after People’s Bank of China picked up shares in HDFC, an Indian private banking giant.
In fact, the latest amendment applies to Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bhutan too. But only China is enraged as this move thwarted its attempt at strategical grip on Indian enterprises. Chinese investments in 18 of India’s major startups are estimated to be a whopping INR 30,000 crore.
According to Brookings India report, many Chinese companies have invested heavily in a wide range of Indian industries from real estate to automobiles. The number of companies with Chinese direct investments stands at 800. Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Spain and Germany have already made changes to their FDI policy to prevent China from taking undue advantage of this pandemic. China is becoming increasingly impatient as the number of countries that are seeing through its game plan is growing. Going a step further, China even called FDI bans discriminatory.
While the global economy is floundering, China continues to capitalize on the devastating effects of COVID-19. Chinese corporations with immense financial resources and political backing are competing to increase their shareholding in other countries. Attempts to thrash these opportunistic investments are irking China. Beijing is renowned for its uncompromising and self-fulfilling aspirations.
Nineteen years after the World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership, China is consistently failing to protect copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights. There has been unending criticism about Chinese products being subpar and that 70 percent of the products are counterfeit.
From fireworks to toys, Chinese products have flooded the Indian market.What does it signify about our domestic manufacturing industry? With the supreme desire of becoming a super power, China has repeatedly violated WTO regulations. The same China is preaching free and ethical trade when several countries chose to amend their FDI policies amid a pandemic.
Experts around the world opined that the FDI clause is not covered by the WTO and India’s FDI decision is completely fair; which is only adding salt to China’s wound. The government and citizens of a country must determine what is best for them. China has no say in this. It is high time we call out such double standards.
Also read: NRI provides financial support to help hometown poor in Telangana
