An Indian street vender holds a T shirt with a logo of TikTok in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: VCG
China doesn't have any restrictive or discriminatory measures for Indian products and services, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday, urging India to implement a consensus reached by leaders from both sides to promote regional development.
"The success of China-India economic and trade cooperation today is the result of joint efforts from the governments and enterprises of the two sides, and serves the fundamental interests of the countries' peoples," said ministry spokesperson Gao Feng on Thursday.
The comments were made days after the Indian government issued a ban on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, citing concerns of potential violations of India's sovereignty and national security. The ban came in the wake of a deadly border clash between troops from both sides last month.
The Chinese Embassy in India has strongly condemned the app ban.
India's measure, which selectively and discriminatorily targets certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds, runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements and is suspected of violating WTO rules, the embassy said.
Following the announcement of the ban, many Indian companies in China voiced their concerns about potential countermeasures the Chinese government could launch on their business operations in China.
Indian IT services providers such as Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services have multi-location footprints in China, Indian media outlet Livemint reported, citing data from Gartner research.
Indian technology firms in China are anxious about the fallout of India's "economic retaliation" against China amid rising tensions between the two nations, the report said.
However, Gao pointed out that "China hasn't released any restrictive or discriminatory measures for Indian products and services."
"China attaches great importance to strengthening cooperation with India in all fields and hopes that the two sides will earnestly implement the economic and trade consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and promote sound and stable economic and trade cooperation," Gao added.