Dependencies on China

Submitted by Mousumi Roy…

There is a global dependence on the Chinese. It cannot be erased, instantly. Those who think that India can win against China by not importing Chinese goods do not have any idea of how the world works. Talk of not buying Chinese products is against the interests of Indian consumers, and we buy a lot of industrial products and chemicals from China for which the Indian pharmaceutical and other industry is dependent. The Indian trade accounts for only 3 % of China’s external trade, and we are more dependent on their imports than they are on ours. Boycott Chinese goods will benefit China than India.

Many Indian manufacturers use injection-moulds from China. China has a stranglehold on rare-earths such as Lithium, that is used in batteries. Even the USA, which has a better industrial-infrastructure than India depends on China. In a global economy, there are interdependencies, some of which are invisible. The entire import of APIs for drugs such as Levofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, and Paracetamol is from China. If China stops supplying spare parts and electronic equipment, the entire Nehru place market and other electronic markets in major Indian towns have to be closed down.

Devaluation China’s currency will help it to sell more in other parts of the world. We need to produce quality goods at competitive prices and analyse reasons why our companies are taken over by China. China’s dominance is not just in consumer goods alone. Of the 9 Companies in the world that supply 5G Technology, three are Chinese-Datang Telecom, Huawei and ZTE. Chinese (and US) companies have colonised and taken over India’s digital landscape. Leaving out Google and Face book which are taking out millions of Ad revenue and data from India, Chinese companies like Alibaba and Tencent Holdings are eating up smart Indian startups. Tencent, a multi-billion dollar Chinese Investment Company, counts India’s startup’s like Flipkart, Ola, Swiggy and Byju’s Classes among its portfolio firms. It has made four fresh investments last year but refuses to make any announcement. 60% of India’s PayTM which benefitted immensely at the time of demonetisation is owned by China’s Alibaba. Today even in the USA almost every mall is stocked with Chinese and Chinese goods-electronics, textiles, leather, sports etc. Same in many other nations. As we thumb our chest about digital India, successful online Indian companies are being gobbled up by China. Most Indians may be out of a sense of dislike for China, tend to underestimate its technological and financial might.

Oil is a classic example. The last 31 years ONGCs oil Production has been stagnant at around 30 to 32 Million tonnes. Why ? Using ONGCs seismic studies others ( foreign companies ) have excavated oil more in India ? What happened to make in India story then? Today pathetically 85% of our oil consumption is import-dependent. The oil import bill is 175 Billion US. Where should the focus be if you want to move up and be less dependent on imports ?

Hitler found fault with Jews and America finds fault with Chinese. China’s goal was, is, and always will be to be economically and politically independent from other countries. They want to produce everything they need in China, with Chinese workers, using Chinese materials. This mentality backfired the first time they tried it in the Great Leap Forward. It took over two decades to recuperate, especially since they stumbled over the Cultural Revolution just a few years later. In the 80s, they finally made a new plan. After 3,000 years of trial and error, they understood painfully well that it would take centuries to develop their country in isolation from the outside world. Instead, they decided to take a shortcut. Trump is trying to break the chain. The net result is a foregone conclusion.

All the cars produced in India are imported technology except TATA. Similarly, all electronics goods are imported technology. So what is wrong if we can import technology. India is also planning to import aviation and military equipment technologies. Our science and technology research must come up to international standards and compete…‬They follow the communist party discipline and a hierarchical management system with supervision at every level…Remember that they are good at karate, table tennis, badminton etc where they have to move their arms faster. This is an ideal need for efficient manufacturing. It simply means nobody can beat them in manufacturing…Two points about Chinese workers…Discipline and Productivity linked payment and incentives.

In fact, we should encourage large info of china trade. It will make it less likely that China will attack India for they will have a lot more to lose. Our slogan should be “Increase Indo-China trade in the interest of peace”..  just look at the Indo China trade and decide who benefits more? Our whole pharma industry is dependent on Chinese raw materials, and so are many manufacturing units on Chinese steel.

This has become an emotional issue and there is a danger of being labelled anti-Indian when one brings up the topic of dependencies on China.