Many Indians avoided buying Chinese products this festive season: Survey
A sizeable number of Indians said ‘no’ to Chinese products while shopping during the festive season this year, according to a survey.
At least 71 per cent of a sample size of 14,000 people said they consciously kept from buying Chinese products during the festival season, said the survey by LocalCircles, a community social media platform.
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Chinese products are in great demand during the festive season in India, with China-made firecrackers, decorative LED lights and Chinese lamps and lanterns selling like hot cakes ahead of Deepawali.
The survey published on Tuesday (November 17) was conducted across 204 districts of the country between November 10 and 15.
Of the 14,000 respondents, only 29 per cent bought Chinese items despite attempts of distributors to sell ‘Made in China’ products by disguising them as ‘Made in PRC’ (Made in People’s Republic of China), the report said.
The recent figure is a contrast to the number of takers for Chinese products recorded in November last year.
In a similar survey last year, 48 per cent of respondents said they bought Chinese products. The difference shows a 19 per cent decline in the sale of Chinese products in 2020.
Around 66 per cent of the respondents who bought Chinese products said they did so because they offered better value for money, while 13 per cent attributed their purchase to the “uniqueness” of the products.
Form the responses, researchers of the survey concluded that Indian MSMEs should make manufacturing more competitive and improve scale to match up to Chinese goods.
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“If the high quality products that are made in India can be produced at scale and the cost of capital for Indian MSME is reduced through government support, products that are made in India will definitely find preference amongst Indian consumers and even other retail markets around the world,” the survey noted.
Of the respondents, 66 per cent were men while 36 per cent were women. While 48 per cent were from tier-1 cities, 30 per cent were from tier-2, and 22 per cent were from tier-3, 4 cities and rural districts.
There has been a rise in anti-China sentiment in the country since 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh in June. While the standoff strained India-China relations, the Centre subsequently put a ban on at least 177 Chinese apps citing security concerns.
