Can We Take On The Dragon With Our Nationalist War Cry?

The #Boycott China movement is our emotional response to the death of our brave soldiers in Ladakh. The nation demands accountability and rightly so. Instead of answers, our ministers are declaring an intent to boycott Chinese goods.

The latest development is that Chinese Cargo imports are being held back at customs. This creates anxiety in the minds of manufacturers and importers as every day lost costs money. Presumably, it has started from an IT alert and India should be careful about any security risk entering our ports of entry.

We are angry with the loss of Indian soldiers and rightfully so. But to assume that we can take on the might of Chinese is laughable. Let us see why.

India & China were almost at the same level till 1976. China started economic reforms and started doubling its GDP quickly. GDP – is the value of all the goods and services produced in a country.

Their Gross Domestic Product was at $1 trillion in 1996. Today they are $13 trillion and we are at $2.5 trillion. For the sake of comparison, the GDP  of the USA is $19 trillion.

The per capita GDP, ie GDP divided by the population  (with purchasing power parity) is

China $16248

India is $7166

The USA is $59928 for the sake of comparison.

If these numbers are not enough, let us look at our one on one equation. India’s trade deficit (our import less our exports) was $ 57 billion. We imported 57 billion dollars worth more of goods then we gave it to them. 14% of our total imports are from China, we export a paltry immaterial 1 % of their imports.

China accounts for 45 % of our Mobile phone market. We can say that we can live without cell phones, but can we live without medicines? We import 70% of API‘s – (Active pharmaceutical ingredients) which mean bulk drugs from China.

Every laptop in the world is produced by China. No iPhone is produced out of China. Even if we buy non-Chinese made cell phones, the global leader in lithium batteries is China. From heavy machinery to sporting equipment, Chinese produced goods are everywhere.

A few Indian startups which have major Chinese investments include Big Basket, Byju’s, Delhivery, Dream 11, Flipkart, Hike, MakeMyTrip, Ola, Oyo, Paytm, Paytm Mall, PolicyBazzar, Quikr, Rivigo, Snapdeal, Swiggy, Uddan, Zomato.

There are a total of 16 Chinese FPIs registered in India with $1.1 billion invested in top-tier stocks. The Peoples Bank of China (PBoc) has a 1% stake in our prized HDFC Bank.

If we want to beat China it is better to up our game, get more competitive. We have the enterprise, competency and the fire to do so. We need a state to create an enabling environment, do away with draconian laws. It may take a few years but it will be befitting way to avenge our martyrs. Until then it may be time to eat humble pie and live with the Chinese contempt. Despite the battle cry of the Chinese boycott, how many Indians you know are even uninstalling Chinese App like TikTok ?

Right now all we can do is not wish President XI on his birthday or forward anti-Chinese messages or vandal a few shops here and there, give rousing speeches to appease the emotional Indian hearts, and stay quiet.