COIMBATORE: The country has seen a 60 per cent decrease in the sale of Chinese products this Deepavali, thanks to the social media campaign to boycott Chinese products. The statistics are based on the data provided by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) from 20 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Nagpur, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Bhopal, which are considered as distribution cities.
Four days ago, the CAIT had said that the demand for Chinese goods from retailers has come down by 45 per cent when compared to last year.
The fresh data showed how people were motivated to boycott Chinese goods following China’s continued support of Pakistan in the aftermath of Uri attack.
Not just people, even traders were reluctant to sell Chinese products after sensing the people’s mood from the social media. Some even displayed ‘Make in India’ boards in their shops to woo consumers.
“Instead of Chinese goods, people preferred earthen lamps and decorative items made from paper, clay and plastic. As for firecrackers, those made in Sivakasi were preferred,” CAIT national president B C Bhartia said.
The recent Chinese media statement that “India can only bark about trade deficit” further strengthened the sentiments against Chinese products, said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.
“The alternatives to Chinese products were very limited. Now, focus should shift towards how to make viable alternative products in our country,” he said.