China asks India not to discriminate against its companies

BEIJING - China Monday asked India not to discriminate against Chinese companies and ensure a fair and transparent investment environment to all.

“We hope that (Indian) policies to be launched should be fair to all enterprises and should not discriminate against Chinese enterprises,” commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian told a news conference here when asked about the reported ban by the Indian government on import of Chinese telecom equipment to the country.

“The investment by Indian firms in China is larger than Chinese firms’ investment in India, and China has created a very good service and investment environment for foreign investment,” he asserted.

Chinese telecom equipment makers like Huawei and ZTE said they have been informed by Indian telecom operators that they have not met the government’s security criteria.

Some of India’s mobile service operators say that they have received a letter from the government that it would take time to clear the purchase of Chinese equipment for their operations as it had to be cleared by the home ministry.

They are saying that they are not being allowed to procure equipment from Chinese vendors.

Yao also said the two countries could “improve cooperation and negotiation” to resolve the issue.

The Indian telecom companies are asked to submit details of the equipment they are procuring and these are then forwarded to the home ministry for clearance.

However, the Indian government is maintaining that there was no “blanket ban” on the import of Chinese telecom equipment into India.

The government is looking at all equipment and the purchases are being decided on “case to case basis” due to security reasons, it said.

Last week, India’s home ministry sought ownership details and some other information from ZTE to process its plea for security clearance to export telecom equipment to the country.

Chinese ambassador Zhang Yan held talks with home secretary G.K. Pillai on the same issue and hoped that all the issues will be resolved.

The Chinese companies are saying that they are ready to offer full cooperation to the Indian government.