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China faces global ire, India eyes opportunity

China faces global ire, India eyes opportunity

In the aftermath of the deadly coronavirus pandemic that shook the world, China, with its battered image, may find the going tough. Many countries are set to redraw their economic relations with China in the coming months.

Not just for its handling of the deadly disease, China has also come under world glare as several countries even complained of receiving inferior quality testing kits, masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) from the world's most populous country.

Besides India, other countries like Spain, the Netherlands, Canada and Czech Republic have registered their concerns over the substandard quality of these products that were supplied by China.

De-risking and diversification of the supply chains are the two important lessons that have been brought to the fore by the pandemic that originated in China, analysts said.

Several companies with manufacturing facilities in China have already shown interest in shifting out.

China’s loss could translate into big gains for countries like India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

India has sprung into action as it embarks on fast tracking major structural and policy reforms. “India is positioned much better today with the way it has handled the pandemic and there is global respect for it,” Deepak Bagla, managing director and CEO, Invest India, a nodal investment promotion and facilitation agency, told IN.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe openly asked American and Japanese companies operating out of China to shift their manufacturing facilities back to their respective countries.

“Despite low quality, people across the globe have been purchasing goods made in China due to sheer competitive pricing. Things may change now as China has come under the scrutiny and has drawn global ire,” an analyst who did not wish to be identified said.

“One important lesson learnt in this has been that pricing is not the only plank while supplying at a global scale. Also, overdependence on a single supplier source is fraught with risk,” he added.

The Confederation of All-India Traders (CAIT) said that there is an unprecedented anger among Indian consumers against Chinese goods that until recently dominated the domestic market.

“Trust deficit with China has risen like never-before and the general sentiment is to bar Chinese goods from entering the Indian market, though at present most shops and retail outlets are closed,” Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT said..