62% Indian consumers bought ‘Made in China’ goods in last 12 months: LocalCircles

About 62% Indian's consumers bought Made in China goods in the last 12 months and 15% of them likely to buy new Chinese brands if they are introduced through Indian companies, according to a report by LocalCircles.

Chinese apps including Deepseek are being used by a sizeable number of Indians. 2 in 10 people also have Chinese apps on their phones including the AI app DeepSeek, the survey showed.

Indian small businesses operating in various product categories such as umbrellas, glassware, cutlery, handbags, and cosmetics are facing stiff competition in the domestic market due to the influx of Chinese goods, showed the LocalCircles survey.

“China supplies 95.8% of India’s umbrellas and sun umbrellas ($31 million) and 91.9% of artificial flowers and human hair articles ($14 million). China’s share in glassware has reached 59.7%, handbags 54.3%, and toys 52.5%, the GTRI report noted. So far, import of Chinese products were carried out by Indian firms. Now with the entry of Chinese firms in Indian market, India’s industrial product imports are set to rise at an accelerated pace,” the survey said.

With the US-China tariff war, the risk of influx of Chinese goods in India soaring as well as. Several industry bodies in India have sought government intervention to safeguard against the influx of Chinese goods in India after the several round of tariff increases between the US and China, the report said. The US has imposed a 145% tariff on Chinese goods and China in retaliation has escalated its tariff on US goods to 125%. The US has meanwhile put a 90-day pause for countries which are negotiating reciprocal tariff trade agreements.

Some trade experts expect India to become a bigger market for Chinese goods, which they say could be beneficial if it boosts domestic manufacturing for re-exports including to the US, said LocalCircles.

The trade between India and China has been thriving despite many Indians announcing decision to boycott Chinese goods after some border clashes in 2022, found the LocalCircles survey.

“China's share in India's imports of industrial products like telecom, machinery, and electronics has increased in the last 15 years goods from 21% to 30%. Beyond economic concerns, the rise raises concerns about potential impacts on national security, broadening the scope of the issue beyond purely economic dimensions, states economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), adding that the growing trade deficit with China is a cause of concern as it is affecting not only economic but also national security dimensions,” said LocalCircles.

From 2019 to 2024, India's exports to China have stagnated at around $16 billion annually, while imports from China have surged from $70.3 billion in 2018-19 to over $101 billion in 2023-24, resulting in a cumulative trade deficit exceeding $387 billion over five years.

In February this year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ordered the blocking of 119 apps, primarily video and voice chat platforms, linked to developers in China and Hong Kong. The blocking order was issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which empowers the Indian government to restrict online content access in the interest of national security, sovereignty, or public order. Around the same time, the finance ministry issued a memo asking its employees to avoid the use of Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek on official devices over concerns on security and data practices. Similarly, in March and April 2024, the government issued two separate gazette notifications. One pertained to 'Make in India' guidelines for surveillance cameras, and another was on the criteria for CCTV certification.