China's Commerce Ministry urges India to treat all investors fairly

China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday urged India to improve its business environment and treat all foreign investors, including Chinese companies, in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

The remarks came after media reported India has blocked access to 54 mobile apps, mainly Chinese, and India's income tax authorities have conducted searches at multiple premises of Chinese companies as part of tax investigations.

Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the relevant Indian authorities have taken a series of measures to suppress Chinese companies and their products in India, which have seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.

"China expressed serious concern about this," Gao said, adding the ministry has noticed that foreign investors, including Chinese companies, are also increasingly concerned about the investment environment in India.

Foreign investors have created a large number of employment opportunities in India and made positive contributions to India's economic development, Gao said.

He said China and India are inseparable neighbors and important economic and trade partners for each other. In 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and India reached $125.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 43 percent.

"The economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has strong resilience and great potential. It is hoped that the Indian side can take concrete measures to maintain the sound development momentum of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and to benefit the two countries,"Gao said.