The Chinese apps that were previously banned in India due to security and data privacy issues have now come alive in the Indian market. These apps have been rebranded, and their app versions have been changed. Some apps appear to have changed hands while the rest are reportedly still being controlled by the Chinese.
In 2020, the ban that India had imposed on 267 Chinese apps grew the number of those apps that were not supported by the nation, particularly following the Galwan Valley border conflict. But 36 of them have been operating in India once again. These apps have been modified to some extent in terms of branding and logos but serve the same purposes. The most popular apps that have been republished are file-sharing app Xender, streaming service Mango TV, e-commerce platform Taobao, and dating app TanTan. Google Play Store and Apple App Store are the platforms where these apps are currently available.
Methods China Uses to Re-Enter India Software Market
The banned apps come in different forms and use different techniques to penetrate the Indian market again. Shein, a fashion retailer, signed a licensing agreement with Reliance to get back onto the market. The Indian government ordered that the user data of Shein be stored locally in India, which protects the company from Chinese access.
The transformed and cloned copies of banned apps are also the hurdles in the way of effective enforcement of restrictions. An example is there were PUBG, which got prohibited in 2020, then Krafton of South Korea reintroduced it as Battlegrounds Mobile India in 2021. However, it caused another temporary ban in 2022, and then, after complying with local safety and data standards, it was relaunched in 2023.
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