New Delhi: Responding to two articles in the Indian press on China-India trade ties, Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong cited Chinese President Xi Jinping as having said that “protectionism is like drinking poison to quench one’s thirst”.
He made the remarks on his X account on Monday (June 24), also posting images of the two newspaper articles he was responding to.
One article, in the Economic Times, cites the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as suggesting a review of Press Note 3, which tightened regulation of investments from neighbouring countries and which was seen as retaliation for the June 2020 border clashes with China.
The other was an op-ed in the Business Standard advocating for non-tariff barriers against Chinese exports to India.
In his post on Monday, Xu further cited Xi as saying of protectionism that it “may ease a country’s internal pressure in the short term, but will only inflict severe damage to the country itself and the world economy in the long run”.
Read some articles in today’s newspaper and share my thoughts with you: just like Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “opening the door brings progress, while closing it leaves one behind. ”“Protectionism is like drinking poison to quench one’s thirst: It may ease a country’s… pic.twitter.com/cK3zQZ4p7A
— Xu Feihong (@China_Amb_India) June 24, 2024
The CII, a lobby group, said in a recent report that Press Note 3 needed to be reviewed with adequate guardrails, ET reported.
“India should adopt a non-restrictive approach towards investments, component imports, openness towards technology transfer in deficient areas, ease of inward movement of skilled manpower and easing of non-trade tariffs,” The Hindu quoted the report as saying and adding that the curbs had hurt India’s components ecosystem.
ET also cited it as recommending fiscal support for the Indian electronics components industry so that it gets enough time to scale itself up.
But the authors of the Business Standard op-ed said the “problems of Chinese macroeconomic policy are imposing an adverse impact worldwide”.
“We believe it is now wise for the Indian state to establish non-tariff barriers against Chinese exports and overseas production sites of Chinese firms,” they wrote.
They added: “We recognise that this constitutes protectionism and violates the tenets of sound development strategy. But in this special moment, with regard to one trading partner, we believe it is appropriate.”
Earlier this year, secretary of the department of promotion of industry and internal trade Rajesh Kumar Singh said India could ease Press Note 3 regulations if the situation along the India-China border stabilised, Reuters reported.
China responded to Singh’s remarks by saying that the border dispute ought to be handled separately from other aspects of the two countries’ relationship.
“China has always believed that the China-India border issue is an issue left over from history and should be placed in an appropriate position within the bilateral relationship and properly handled,” Reuters quoted Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning as saying.
