Chinese mobile firms plan to set up plants elsewhere amid India crackdown

IANS

New Delhi, September 17

Amid India’s escalating crackdown on Chinese companies, China-based smartphone brands are now planning to set up manufacturing plants in countries like Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nigeria, according to a Global Times report.

The report, citing a Chinese executive based in India, claimed that companies will evaluate bilateral ties, market potential, preferential policies and labour costs to set up manufacturing plants elsewhere.

OPPO is going to set up a $20 million mobile phone plant in Egypt.

"OPPO's memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian government to set up a $20 million smartphone facility may be a pacesetter," the Chinese executive told Global Times.

The OPPO plant's production capacity is scheduled to reach 4.5 million units annually, according to a statement from the Egypt's Council of Ministers this week.

The investment will contribute to creating 900 job opportunities over the next three to five years.

"The management in Chinese smartphone brands in India felt a palpable sense of being squeezed by the Indian government's crackdown and its (protectionist) actions to improve domestic companies' capability to make sophisticated electronics such as smartphones,” the executive was quoted as saying.

India has stepped up its crackdown on Chinese firms over the years.

The Indian government is looking into cases of alleged tax evasion by three Chinese mobile companies -- OPPO, Vivo India, and Xiaomi.

The companies were served notices by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for duty evasion. India has also banned more than 300 Chinese apps, including Tencent's WeChat and ByteDance's TikTok.

The country is now bolstering its domestic smartphone and chip manufacturing sector.

The Gujarat government has partnered Vedanta and Foxconn, aiming an investment of Rs 1.54 lakh crore to achieve self-reliance in the field of semiconductor manufacturing.

Tata Group is also reportedly in talks with Taiwan-based Wistron to ramp up iPhone production capacity by 500 per cent in the country.

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