CAIT survey shows 98% Indians favor boycott of Chinese goods

Most Indians do not want to buy Chinese goods. A recent survey revealed that 98.8 per cent people supported the boycott of Chinese goods. This survey, conducted by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) between June 19 and June 27, sought the views of as many as 9,735 people from across the country.

In a statement, CAIT said that the results of the survey affirm the strong commitment of Indian people to fight vigorously against China in large numbers.

CAIT's online survey was conducted for nine days among cross section of the people including traders, micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), farmers, hawkers, consumers, self-entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, working women, students and people from social organizations. The statement said that about 11,000 people across the country were invited to take part in the survey out of which 9735 people responded to the survey.

The unprecedented, overarching sentiment among Indian consumers as well as traders to boycott Chinese goods is expected to pave the way for small Indian manufacturers to flourish in the coming months. Until the Coronavirus pandemic hit the country’s economy, cheap Chinese goods have been dominating the Indian markets, whether urban or rural.

Meanwhile CAIT has also launched a national campaign urging traders to boycott Chinese goods. The campaign titled ‘Indian Goods-Our Pride’ aims to achieve reduction in imports of Chinese manufactured goods by Rs 1 lakh crore by December 2021.

Imports from China dropped from $76 billion in 2017-18 to $70 billion at present. “This $6-billion import decline tells the true story of the use of indigenous goods and changing consumer sentiments,” Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT, said.

The apex trader’s body has also prepared a list of 3,000 products which includes FMCG, consumer goods, toys, festive goods, fabrics, textiles, stationery, paper, food items, electrical, electronics, builder hardware among others—that need to boycotted. It also said that the Indian manufacturers have an important role in the Chinese product boycott..