Ban on Chinese apps in India: Here’s how Beijing reacted to it

Beijing: China on Thursday expressed strong concerns over the ban on more than 220 Chinese mobile applications in India, saying it ''damages the interest of Chinese companies.''

China’s Commerce Ministry`s spokesperson Gao Feng, while addressing a press briefing on Thursday said, “The ban damages the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."

“For a certain period of time, the relevant Indian departments have been taking several measures to put pressure on Chinese enterprises and related services in the country, which has seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, with China expressing serious concern in this regard," said Gao.

Gao expressed hope that India would be able to take appropriate measures to maintain the positive dynamics of economic cooperation between the two countries, noting that bilateral trade increased by 43 per cent in 2021 in per year terms, reaching USD 125.7 billion, according to Sputnik.

It came after sources said on Monday that the Government of India has decided to ban 54 more Chinese apps that pose a "threat" to India`s security. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will formally issue a notification banning the operations of these apps in India, the sources said. 

The apps against whom the adverse security inputs were generated include Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera, Music Player, Music Plus, Volume Booster, Video Players Media all formats, Viva Video Editor, Nice Video Baidu, AppLock and Astracraft, among others, the sources said.

The MeITY, which had earlier banned the Chinese apps in 2000, has directed the Google Playstore to block these applications, the sources said. The MeITY, through the powers vested in it by Section 69a of the Information Technology Act, 2000, has taken necessary steps in this regard, they added.

Earlier in June last year, India banned 59 Chinese mobile applications including the widely-used social media platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Helo keeping in view the threat to the nation`s sovereignty and security.

The majority of the apps banned in the June 29 order were red-flagged by intelligence agencies over concerns that they were collecting user data and possibly also sending them "outside".