India has banned 43 more Chinese apps, including Alibaba’s online shopping site AliExpress, as its campaign against its neighbour’s tech companies shows no sign of abating.
India’s Electronics and Information Technology ministry said in an order on Tuesday that the apps were blocked for “engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India”.
Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government has banned more than 200 apps since relations between the two countries deteriorated in June, after a border clash claimed the lives of 21 Indian soldiers.
India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar has called the stand-off the “most serious crisis” in relations since 1962.
The bans, described as a “digital strike” by the country’s Technology minister, have hit large Chinese tech companies including Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, who were all investing in the Indian market.
Alibaba, for example, has invested in the Indian payments company Paytm and food delivery start-up Zomato while Tencent has backed the education app Byju’s and fantasy sports platform Dream11.
But Chinese investment has slowed after New Delhi required all new investments to be vetted by the government in order to block “opportunistic takeovers”.
Indian companies have sought to capitalise on the nationalist anger against Beijing as consumers spurn Chinese apps in favour of homegrown versions. Indian start-ups Roposo, Chingari and Mitron are all trying to step in and fill the void left by the ban on TikTok, for example.
But they were still behind Snack Video, owned by the Chinese company Kuaishou, which had racked up a total of 166m downloads, according to Sensor Tower data, until it was banned on Tuesday.
After the first batch of 59 apps was banned in June, the companies were asked to submit answers to a list of over 50 questions from New Delhi. But there has not been any indication of when the apps will be unbanned.
PUBG Mobile, the hit game that was initially distributed by Tencent Games in India, is working to re-enter the country after being banned this year. PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary South Korean company Bluehole, said in a September statement that it would “take on all publishing responsibilities within the country” from Tencent.
The latest 43 banned apps:
AliSuppliers Mobile App
Alibaba Workbench
AliExpress — Smarter Shopping, Better Living
Alipay Cashier
Lalamove India — Delivery App
Drive with Lalamove India
Snack Video
CamCard — Business Card Reader
CamCard — BCR (Western)
Soul- Follow the soul to find you
Chinese Social — Free Online Dating Video App & Chat
Date in Asia — Dating & Chat For Asian Singles
WeDate-Dating App
Free dating app-Singol, start your date!
Adore App
TrulyChinese — Chinese Dating App
TrulyAsian — Asian Dating App
ChinaLove: dating app for Chinese singles
DateMyAge: Chat, Meet, Date Mature Singles Online
AsianDate: find Asian singles
FlirtWish: chat with singles
Guys Only Dating: Gay Chat
Tubit: Live Streams
WeWorkChina
First Love Live- super hot live beauties live online
Real — Lesbian Social Network
Cashier Wallet
MangoTV
MGTV-HunanTV official TV APP
WeTV — TV version
WeTV — Cdrama, Kdrama & More
WeTV Lite
Lucky Live-Live Video Streaming App
Taobao Live
DingTalk
Identity V
Isoland 2: Ashes of Time
BoxStar (Early Access)
Heroes Evolved
Happy Fish
Jellipop Match — Decorate your dream island！
Munchkin Match: magic home building
Conquista Online II
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