Chinese tech start-ups throw in the towel in India as New Delhi stands firm in blocking apps from mainland companies

A group of Chinese start-ups are pulling out of India, following the lead of short video platform operator TikTok and other mainland tech firms, as New Delhi maintains that China-developed apps are unwelcome in the South Asian nation, according to industry insiders.

Yotta Games’ Laurence Li, who oversees the English-language community in India for a strategy mobile game created by the Shanghai-based developer, recently said that it has been difficult to communicate with players in the country.

Yotta was one of the first mainland firms to get their apps blocked in the world’s second most populous economy behind China. More than 270 apps have been banned by New Delhi since June 2020, when a deadly Himalayan border clash between Chinese and Indian troops led to the initial prohibition of 59 mainland-developed apps over national security and privacy concerns.

Apart from ByteDance-owned TikTok, other major Chinese apps that have been blacklisted in India include Tencent Holdings’ multipurpose super app WeChat and online shopping platform Taobao, operated by Alibaba Group Holding. E-commerce giant Alibaba is the parent of the South China Morning Post.