India's new FDI policy against free trade, discriminatory: China

India’s new policy on allowing investment from foreign countries go against international rules on free trade and investment, said China on Monday.
India on Saturday mandated that investments from neighbouring countries would now require government approval, effectively closing the “automatic route” used by firms and individuals to set up business in the country.
India’s move was attributed to the rising possibility of “opportunistic takeovers” of its companies, as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the economy.
"The additional barriers set by Indian side for investors from specific countries violate WTO's principl e of non-discrimination, and go against the general trend of liberalisation and facilitation of trade and investment," Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Rong said in a statement in Delhi.
There were calls to curb Chinese investments after the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) increased its shareholding in Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) amid a sharp correction in the stock of India’s largest mortgage lender.
VDO.AI

The new rules will also apply to all the existing and planned investments by foreign firms in Indian businesses, said the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Several Indian start-ups have existing investment from Chinese investors. For instance, Flipkart has an investment from Tencent (about 5 per cent) and Alibaba owns a significant stake in Paytm.

US threat to pull China's WTO developing nation tag will fail: State media

International News

A US threat to pull recognition of China's "developing nation" status at the World Trade Organisation is a pressure tactic ahead of this week's trade talks and is bound to fail, a commentary in state media said Monday.
The reaction followed a memo issued on Friday by President Donald Trump to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
It said the WTO, which operates a global system of trade rules and settles disputes, uses "an outdated dichotomy between developed and developing countries that has allowed some WTO members to gain unfair advantages." Without "substantial progress" to reform WTO rules within 90 days, Washington will no longer treat as a developing country any WTO member "improperly declaring itself a developing country and inappropriately seeking the benefit of flexibilities in WTO rules and negotiations," said the statement, which focused mostly on China.
The memo came ahead of meetings in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday between US and Chinese negotiators aiming to resolve a trade dispute that has led to tariffs on more than $360 billion worth of two-way trade involving the world's two largest economies.
Washington "obviously timed the memo to serve as a new bargaining chip" in the trade talks, the commentary from state-run Xinhua news agency said of the WTO threat.

 "But the tactic of imposing pressure is nothing new to China and has never worked," it said.Xinhua added that the US government's "latest hegemonic attempt" to coerce the WTO "is destined to hit a wall of opposition." Developing country status in the WTO allows governments longer timelines for implementing free trade commitments, as well as the ability to protect some domestic industry and maintain subsidies...Read More