Chinese companies Archives

Not Possible to Fully Block Chinese Companies, Say Officials

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, World

NEW DELHI – Despite the uproar against Chinese products amid the face off between India and China in Ladakh, government officials say it is not possible to fully block the chinese companies due to the substantial investments from the neighboring counrty in India.

“While some measures can be taken, several Chinese investments are quite substantive. It is not possible to fully block them. A worrisome factor is that these Chinese companies have linkages of some sort with the Chinese military,” one government official was quoted by The Hindu as saying.

On June 29, the government banned 59 Chinese apps citing national security; another 47 were also put on the proscribed list later.

In June 2017, China passed a national intelligence law which gave Beijing powers over Chinese companies’ overseas investments as well. As per the Annual report of the U.S. Secretary of Defence to the Congress on the “Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China 2019”, this law requires Chinese companies, such as Huawei, ZTE, Tik Tok and others to support, provide assistance, and cooperate in China’s national intelligence work, wherever they operate.

Article 7 of the law states, “Any organisation or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work in accordance with the law… The state protects individuals and organisations that support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence work.”

The law has direct security implications for all overseas Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from China, a second official said.

Intelligence assessments have flagged some large Chinese companies with major presence in India having direct or indirect links with the PLA. This includes Xindia Steels Limited, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent.

For instance, Xindia Steels Limited is considered one of the largest joint ventures (JV) between India and China and has commissioned a 0.8 mtpa iron ore pelletisation facility in Koppal district of Karnataka at a cost of over ₹250 crore. Its main investor is Xinxing Cathay International Group Co. Ltd. which, as per its website, is “reorganized, reconstructed and unhooked from previous production department and subordinate enterprises and institutions of the General Logistics Department of the PLA”.

Similarly, Huawei, which has generated global concern over its 5G services, was founded by Ren Zhengfei, a former deputy director of the PLA’s engineering corps in 1987. Huawei is quite popular in India and a government decision on its bid for 5G services in India is expected shortly.

Multi-million funding

CETC had in 2018 announced a $46 million investment in a 200 MW photo-voltaic manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh. Officials pointed out that CETC is China’s leading military electronics manufacturer and also makes Hikvision CCTV cameras.

Several CETC research institutes and subsidiaries have been added to the U.S. government’s entity list, restricting exports to them on national security grounds, officials pointed out.

CETC has been implicated by the U.S. Department of Justice in at least three cases of illegal exports and many CETC employees have also been convicted for military espionage, the second official stated.

CETC also provides technology used for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, where around one million are held in re-education camps, assessments noted.

Similarly, SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, the parent company of MG Motors, which sells MG Hector in India has also raised concerns. One of the subsidiaries of SAIC is Nanjing Automobile, which was previously a vehicle servicing unit of PLA, the official added.

Another aspect that has raised red flags is Chinese investments in Indian technology start ups. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. congressional commission, said in its 2019 report, “The Chinese government’s military-civil fusion policy aims to spur innovation and economic growth through an array of policies and other government-supported mechanisms, including Venture Capital (VC) funds, while leveraging the fruits of civilian innovation for China’s defence sector.”

This raises a direct question mark on Chinese VC investments in India including big names like Alibaba and Tencent, the second official stated.

30 Chinese companies to participate in Bengal business summit

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Business Summit, Emerging Businesses, Events

Ma Zhanwu

Kolkata : Highlighting the need for good relations between India and China to strengthen economic ties, a Chinese diplomat on Tuesday said about 30 Chinese companies will be participating in the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) scheduled to be held here January 16-17.

“Good political relations between China and India, certainly, contribute to further growth of business ties between the two countries. Actually, China and India relations are at important juncture and we look forward for new age of fast growth of political and economic ties between two countries,” said Ma Zhanwu, Consul General of China in Kolkata.

Chinese businesses “attach great importance” to the opportunities presented by eastern India and by West Bengal, he said.

“This year, about 30 Chinese companies will be participating in the BGBS. Out of those 10 Chinese companies will be visiting India for the first time to explore business opportunities and 20 others already have ongoing projects in India,” he told reporters.

Of the 10 companies coming foor the first time, four are from Jiangsu, four from Shandong and one from Yunnan Province.

According to Ma, China aims to invest $200 billion abroad every year but Chinese companies together made “a total investment of $100 billion aboard in the last year” as they could “not find the proper projects”.

“This year, the Chinese companies aim to utilise BGBS and other opportunities towards fulfilling that goal,” he said.

Ma also said the BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) economic corridor would be developed with joint efforts by the four countries.

“We hope to see the signing of Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. We hope that two countries can combine their well know strategies. India has Act East policy and in China, we have proposed the Belt and Road initiative…this combined strategies can create more trust and opportunities to the business people,” he added.

—IANS

300 Chinese companies attend Invest in India event

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Business Summit, Economy, Emerging Businesses, Events, Investing, News, World

By Gaurav Sharma,

Beijing : Nearly 300 Chinese companies attended a business seminar in the country’s southwest which was organised by the Indian Embassy to attract more investment into India.

The India-China Business Seminar was held in Guizhou’s capital Guiyang where Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy, Amit Narang, encouraged the companies to visit and invest in India.

He also talked about India’s remarkable jump in the ranking of Ease of Doing Business.

“The seminar received an overwhelming response with more than 400 representatives from more than 280 Chinese companies attending it,” said an official statement.

The representatives of Chinese companies raised specific queries on the taxation structure in India and the incentives offered to Chinese investors in India, especially in the Renewable Energy Sector.

This event saw senior level participation from the local government.

—IANS

Google’s work boon for Chinese companies, says Sundar Pichai in China

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise, Markets, Networking, Technology

Sundar Pichai

Shanghai : Hinting at a possible resumption of a harmonius relationship with China, Google’s India-born Chief Executive Sundar Pichai on Sunday said that a lot of the tech giant’s work actually helps Chinese companies.

Attending the fourth edition of the Chinese state-run “World Internet Conference” in Wuzhen, near Shanghai, Pichai said that many small and medium-sized businesses in China take advantage of Google to get their products to many other countries outside of China, the South China Morning Post reported.

The Google website and most of the company’s products — including YouTube — are banned in mainland China.

Google shut down its Chinese search engine seven years ago after a direct confrontation over Beijing’s censorship policies.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins also attended the event.

The previous three conferences in 2014, 2015 and 2016 were not attended by such heavyweight US tech executives as Cook or Pichai.

Cook told the event that “the theme of this conference – developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits – is a vision we at Apple share”.

He said that Apple “is proud to have worked alongside” many of its partners in China to help build a community that will join a common future in cyberspace.

Apple this year agreed to Chinese government requests to remove dozens of virtual private network (VPN) apps – services that allow Chinese users to access blocked websites – from its local App Store.

Skype, the calling app, was removed from its mainland App Store this autumn.

—IANS