Boycott Chinese goods - Is it possible

Chinese companies are not content with the Chinese market only. They target other countries and as a result, their portfolio grows. So, in order to be the alternative, Indian manufacturers need to apply the same strategy to be acceptable to domestic customers. It's a hard truth that almost everyone looks down upon India made products because of the negligible global presence. Indian companies are already behind their Chinese counterparts. Chinese biggies make their entry through well established Indian companies. Everyone knows what one needs to go through even to set up a small kirana store with a valid trade license! No matter who is governing, it's very hard for the traders. A lot of time and money is wasted in setting up those small units which could potentially supply parts to big manufacturing units. For rare earth, we need to turn to countries like Brazil, Vietnam and Russia. India needs to look for alternatives. The government needs to attract companies like Sony to set up manufacturing units 'without any hassle'. Monetary concession needs to be given - it is never more than the value of pride and dignity we are sacrificing. We need to do exactly what China had done to global biggies when they set up their units there. The Western world is not very kind on China but they don't have many alternatives right now - like Indians don't have!
Presently, we do not have much of a choice but it has to start somewhere. We can start by NOT participating in those so called 'Flash Sales' or 'Great Indian Sales' or Big Billion Days' which sell Chines electronics(mainly mobiles).
 
Will like FMs inputs / tips for how to avoid Chinese products given the state of affairs
Hari's ask (see above) was very simple. Yet the responses have been absurd, are all over the place and do not even attempt to answer his question! I know it is hard to stick to the point but do try. :rolleyes:
 
Indian companies are already behind their Chinese counterparts.
I dont feel happy to say this but we are far far behind. So the need for action is urgent.
The government needs to attract companies like Sony to set up manufacturing units 'without any hassle'
manufacturing is not the only thing. We need infrastructure, logistics, and most of all customers who will buy our products.
If we want to be economically powerful and self reliant we need to find other ways running side by side besides mfr. consumer products. But that would be offtopic.
Regards.
 
The mature response to China ain’t banning their products, but making Indian manufacturing competent to compete internationally (to begin with, locally). Chinese manufacturing stole the march over us some 20-25 years ago. Why does it take a war for us to get our act together? And will it? As for the OP’s question, shouldn’t those giving the boycott call also provide the ‘how to’? But wait...!
 
China accounted for 11.8% of India’s total imports as of February 2020.
However, in India’s total exports, its share was a mere 3%.
Gerry's figures may not be correct but his assessment is right.
Our ALL political system is corrupt and we require money 'from outside' to develop. It is like in old bollywood movies where one has to go to old, muchhadd Dhoti wearing, 'Lala' with hair protruding from his ears to get some loan. No problem with that too. In war and politics shrewd cunningness is an asset. I find no reason to not to have both strategies. War is also not good. Lots of loss of lives. In an ideal world I would also do away with nationalism. Lets hope better sense prevails without loosing self respect.
sorry about political post. But it was related to overall scheme of things.
Regards.
 
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Why does it take a war for us to get our act together?
Because we are lazy bums ? need to be prodded ? Does cheap chinese products flooding the markets makes us not to bother too much ?
My judgement is chinese have acquired manufacturing capabilities on massive scale. They have giant infrastructure and one only has to approach them and they will make them. for ex. lets say they have giant electronics mfrg. and making pcbs is only part of it.. Once you have such vast manufacturing capability churning out small order is just so easy and it keeps the factories busy. this makes other countries lenient saying 'I am getting this for so little, why bother.' Thats why I said in post #26 to find other ways besides mfrg.
Regards
 
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I think context, intent and sentiment are paramount ; it is one thing to say boycott Chinese goods however reality is different. As this is a hifi forum people can start small and this is nothing to do with China per se ; non critical but locally made things like speaker stands , hifi racks , connectors and other non essentials can easily be promoted without compromising upon the quality or value sought . Obviously as owner of a Line Magnetic amplifier this is a tad rich coming from me but China is merely filling a void here which India is yet to . I mean one could argue why cannot I buy from Acoustic Portrait or even FNL or someone else in India , fact is we aren't there yet . So yes we can buy stands and racks here , hifi equipment ? Not yet .
 
I think lots of stuff you mentioned (stands, speakers misc.) is not only well made here in india but exported to the western countries. yea! more power to them.
 
“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources,
cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children.
Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
Theodore Roosevelt
 
Asus and Samsung are very good alternatives even though quite a few products of theirs are made in China.. However by giving them sales, we can encourage them to open manufacturing in India...
Samsung has already setup base in India.
 
Well, a huge Duty Hike could be coming soon on all Chinese imports and guidelines to restrict Chinese goods coming in from countries with which India has Free Trade agreements.


Not yet official I guess, but Close.

MaSh
 
One way to check is Google the product and search through images that shows the back plate or bottom plate of any given product. Images generally reveal all details including technical stuff.
 
complete boycott of all products made not be possible , but we can do it wherever possible ...not having information of all the parts inside a product is no excuse ...we always take decisions based on information available ......to start with ....those which have MADE IN CHINA label can be boycotted .....
 
No point in everyone repeating same thing. And from all the post it seems we agree more or less on all things said. Here I dare to post gist of all the post if I may.
1) Buy as much as local/indian products available with zealous attitude.
2) avoid chinese as much as possible without disrespect.
3) If not available see if second hand suits your purchase. Look for made in Japan, malaysia, Vietnaam, Korea etc.
4) All Govt. need investments and do backflips. No problem with that. So dont expect any govt. to do the job. Idea is to start local self reliant mfrg.
5) Dont expect to get results soon
last but not necessarily to be followed strictly.
6) If you feel it is your patriotic duty see if it is possible to change your already made chinese product selection or for that matter if the product is at all necessary.

and to all the soldiers from our independence to recent ones who laid down their lives. We have/will not forget your sacrifices.

Thanks and have a nice happy day.
Regards
 
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For all the people who are clamoring for boycotting China and buying made in India should read the following passage received on WhatsApp

Anyone who has ever dealt with any Indian official would be frightened by how China works once you read this. This is how China was 10 years ago.

We all should, in our small ways try and buy indian brands or even non Chinese brands. This keeps the money rolling within the country and benefits our people

But to dream that that will make a difference to China would be stupid. The only ego massage that we would be doing would be of our own.

To that end, to maybe make myself feel better, I've already deleted the Banggood and AliExpress apps from my phone. Plus in the coming hard times it might make me save some money

All that will do is that, in future I'll buy my components from China at exorbitant rates from the dealers of lamington road and not cheaply direct from the Chinese.

Whether vishay, elcon etc make good products in India is immaterial when their MOQ is beyond my reach and the attitude of the company and their dealers makes you never want to see their faces again.

The customer is not the king for Indian companies and trade.

Couple that with the children of unmarried mothers that populate our polity, government and administrators, anyone who has seen their behavior during the current pandemic would need to have their heads examined that this same gang would ever work for the betterment of the country's people and future

*******************

*An Excellent Case Study of an Indian Company starting a factory in China - Case of Technocraft, Mumbai*



EXPERIENCE OF INDIAN MANAGEMENT IN CHINA

I am the Vice President of a medium sized Indian corporate. We are one of the largest manufacturers of Drum Closures in the world. These are a closing devices used in the manufacture of 200 litres Steel drums. It is a very high precision engineering product. We are also one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of scaffolding system out of India. These are also highly engineered precision products.

It is a common practice in these days in the business circles to compare India and China in almost all spheres. In every forum or platform the discussion inevitably veered around China - India comparison. In this article, I want to share the experience of starting and operating business in China . You may make your own comparison with the conditions in India based on your own experience . I am a patriot to the core and am no fan of China. However the business and economic considerations compelled our group to consider putting up a factory in China for producing drum closures and scaffolding for Chinese and international markets. We considered the availability of cheaper raw material, highly productive labour, very low logistic cost and good sized domestic market in China as the reasons enough to invest in a factory in China.

We were aware about volatile Indo-Chinese relations and the risk involved in operating in China. They have some typical laws and their legal system tend to favour Chinese. We had developed high level of indigenous manufacturing technology which is economic and competitive. There was also fear of Chinese learning and copying our technology. In spite of all these fears we decided to go ahead by taking reasonable precautions. We decided not to take any Chinese partner. Apart from the fear of loss of technology there is also a law in China that Chinese citizen holding minority interest also has a veto power in the company. Hence we decided to go on our own.

In 2006 we started searching for a suitable location. We wanted to be close to East Coast but in a location where the labour was cheaper than the developed eastern provinces and the laws permitted generation and disposal of effluent.

In 2008 after many discussions and considerations we located an Industrial Zone Quanjiao in a small town about 50 km west of Nanjing which met most of our requirements. After obtaining initial information about the zone, we decided to meet zone authorities personally and to see the area . I and one of my colleagues reached the zone office in the morning at about 10.00 AM. To our surprise we found that the zone authorities had made elaborate arrangements to welcome us. Local party chief and few other senior officials were also present. We felt awed and nervous. We told the zone head that we had visited only for a survey and do not have a plan to sign any deal. The zone chief informed very politely that they were sure that we would be satisfied with the land and the conditions.

They then explained their proposals and showed various sites in the zone. After we showed our interest in a piece of land they made a final offer which was substantially more attractive than the offer made in the mail earlier. We asked for few more facilities which they readily agreed and after about 4 hours the deal was signed. We were amazed at their helpful and cordial approach all through the discussions and their determination to get first foreigner to invest in their industrial zone.

After signing a short MOU , we informed them that we need to go to Nanjing and speak to a lawyer to form a company. The zone chief mentioned that if we have trust in them they would form the company with all approvals free of cost. By this time we had already started trusting them and agreed to their proposal. They had also got a local Bank Manager with all the necessary forms for opening the bank account. All this in a day's work!

Within a week we got company registration with the name and registration number and the company documents were given to us within 2 weeks. The bank account was opened within one week thereafter. Hence within less than one month we were able to buy the land with all the registration and approvals and also open the bank account.

One officer in the zone was nominated to give us all the required assistance. We mentioned about the need for an architect. Promptly he gave us names of about 5 architects who were already active in the zone. After some discussions with architects we finalized one from Nanjing and gave him details of the building requirements. We once again approached the officer of the zone for help to find some contractors for construction. Within one day he give list of 8 or 9 civil contractors who were doing construction activities in the zone. We floated the enquiry to all the contractors and finalized one of them.

The building was constructed in about 4 months and in 6 months time we were able to start the production. In my last 30 years of experience in India I have yet to see a factory starting within 6 months.

We have been in production for last 10 years and are quite satisfied with our working in China. I would now like to share some of my experiences of operation in China.

1) Even though the labor wages are higher than India, the cost per piece works out to be cheaper because of high productivity of the labor.

2) The zone we selected is located in a small town with a population only about 1,50,000. The zone was also one of the most ordinary typical industrial zone of China. In spite of this the internal road of the zone are wide, concreted with shady trees on both sides, good landscaping and very clean and organized. The zone offer 5 basic services of providing electricity, water and sewerage connections at the factory gate, levelled land and road connectivity. I have yet to see an industrial estate of similar quality and services anywhere in India.

3) The workers are provided free lunch every day by the company. This is the common practice in China.

4) Every year during Chinese New Year all the business in China remain closed for 10 days. Apart from these there are few holidays during Labour day in May ,National Day in October , Dragon boat festival in June. There is no PL,CL system .

5) The factory loss in China is very well defined and there is no room for any discretion. The 5 star Insurance is compulsory for each and every employee which covers Endowment , Accident ,Unemployment , maternity/paternity and hospitalization . For the compensation for injury during working is well defined depending on the nature of injury. The compliance of factory rules are done once at the time completion of construction and then there is no further inspection. In fact during our more than 10 years operations we do not have any inspector visiting our factory for any reason.

6) We submit VAT returns online every month and every month our VAT refund due is credited. There is no human interaction or any failure.In fact no one can issue Invoice which they call Fapio with their own logo or style . Each and every seller has to by pre-printed Invoice/Fapio from the Sales Tax department and can issue only those Invoices to their customers. Seller has to buy one devise from tax department which gets connected between computer and printer and data gets transferred to tax department automatically .

7) There is a very high degree of safety and security and there is no theft.

8) There are no aggressive unions. In fact the wages and benefits are well defined and there are no negotiations. The working is peaceful. There is no political or bureaucratic intervention. After every Chinese New year , our area's Mayor visits our factory with entire HOD of departments like Electricity ,Labour,Zone etc. to discuss on any issues if faced by us.This is amazing.

9) All the government offices are fully accountable. If any application for any license or permit is not settled in 30 days then the same is deemed to be approved.

10) In spite of Indo-Chinese tensions from time to time due to situation in the borders the Chinese workers and staff are very cordial and friendly. They are all aware about the tensions but it has not affected our or any other Indian establishment.

11) There are no other taxes or dues except VAT, Income Tax, Custom Duty and local taxes. These are all well-defined and there is no room for disputes. All assessments are done online.

12) The government of China response very quickly to changing international situation. For example when President Trump slapped 10% Custom Duty on Chinese products, within one week government of China increased the VAT rebate by 4% and also devalued their currency . Thereby nullifying the custom duty in US and at the same time making Chinese goods more competitive in the rest of the world. This is their usual speed of response.

These are some of the cuff observations of operating in China. Clearly China has unmatched ease of starting business as well as ease of doing business. It is because of this combination that the invisible transaction cost are almost NIL in China. This propagates downstream and upstream giving over all competitiveness to the Chinese products.

If the Government of India follow the China model of ease of starting business and doing business then I am sure India can overtake China as world manufacturing hub because intrinsically Indian entrepreneur is more seasoned, matured and experienced than Chinese counterpart.


------------------
Best Regards,

Deepak Mishra
Vice - President
Technocraft Industries (India) Ltd.,

Opus Centre, 47, Central Road, MIDC, Opposite Tunga Paradise Hotel,

Andheri (East), Mumbai - 400093

Direct: 91-22-40982330

Cell No. 91-9821611775

Board : 91-22-40982222

E-mail: [email protected]



Edited as requested

URL: www.technocraftgroup.com
 
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As a corollary to my post above my experiences with officials in India

1. An RTI application treated like a football by the first official was bounced by the municipal head office for 3 months before the last officer came with us to the first table where we submitted it asking him why did he not reply when it was his department.
2. I was threatened with a case at the sessions court and forced to apply for a license that was never applicable to me. I had to go to the office multiple times to process that.
3. It took me 2 weeks and multiple visits to have my dad's death certificate issued as I refused to use an agent and pay a bribe.
4. Another RTI application was ignored for a year till the threat of an appeal found the files miraculously.


And we keyboard warriors will keep in dreaming of taking on the world and beating China
 
European, American and Japanese companies should close down their factories in China and should start their productions in their own land. So that, the famous products will gain more value as they had got previously two decades ago, so that the buyers also will be satisfied. Naturally we can eliminate China.
 
European, American and Japanese companies should close down their factories in China and should start their productions in their own land. So that, the famous products will gain more value as they had got previously two decades ago, so that the buyers also will be satisfied. Naturally we can eliminate China.
Bhai
that is not possible. The west is far ahead in all fronts. Even ahead of china. They need china for small insignificant (to them) manufacturing things. They dont care unless there is some big ticket stuff. Like stuff highly technical, researched stuffs. etc.
Naturally we can eliminate China.
and eliminating china is not the goal.
regards

OK. Things are waivering off. I will take a break. Pardon me.
 
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