Galwan Valley clash: 43% Indians avoided Chinese items in last 12 months

A year after the clash between soldiers of Indian and Chinese armies at Galwan Valley in Ladakh, a survey has found that 43 per cent Indians didn't buy any China-made products in the last 12 months.

Even among those who purchased 'Made in China' products, 60 per cent said they bought only 1-2 items during the period, the survey, conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles, found.

The results are in sync with the Indian government's extra push to promote local production and ban 100-odd China-based apps like TikTok, AliExpress, among others. There were several calls for boycotting Chinese products after the Galwan Valley conflict in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives.

A LocalCircles survey conducted around the festive season in November 2020 had also indicated that 71 per cent of Indian consumers did not purchase 'Made in China' products at that time.

LocalCircles said the latest survey received nearly 18,000 responses from consumers located in 281 districts of India. Incidentally, value for money remains one of the key reasons for customers opting for Chinese products.

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About 70 per cent of respondents, who purchased products made in China in the last 12 months, said they did so because they felt the products offered value for money. 'Uniqueness' and 'better quality' were also added attractions for some.  

Among the respondents who purchased Chinese products during this period, 14 per cent said they bought 3-5 products, while 7 per cent  bought 5-10 items. India depends on China for several products, including electrical machinery, appliances, pharmaceuticals and drugs. China's share in India's intermediate goods import is at 12 per cent, while it is at 30 per cent for capital goods and 26 per cent for final consumer goods.

Commenting on the survey results, LocalCircles said that while escalations like the one in 2020 give a reason to consumers to boycott Chinese items and try products made in India, consumers generally will only stay with them if the cost, quality, uniqueness and service equation is better and ahead of their Chinese counterparts.

"If with a combination of Indian markets and global export opportunities, India can scale the value for money, quality, uniqueness factor, at least in some product segments, it can march ahead of China", it stated.

The community social media platform claims to be a medium to enable citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions and enable the government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric.

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