China expresses serious concerns over India banning Chinese apps

• India has blocked access to 54 mobile apps, mainly Chinese, government sources say.
• "We hope India can take measures to maintain sound development momentum of bilateral cooperation," Chinese minister says.
• Since the start of political tension with China in 2020, India's ban list has expanded to cover 321 apps.

BEIJING: China on Thursday expressed serious concerns over India's ban of Chinese apps over security reasons, adding that it hopes India would treat all foreign investors, including Chinese firms, in a transparent, fair and non-discriminatory manner.

"We hope India can take concrete measures to maintain the sound development momentum of bilateral economic and trade cooperation," Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference.

India has blocked access to 54 mobile apps, mainly Chinese but also including Singapore-based Sea Ltd's "Free Fire" mobile game, over security concerns, government sources told Reuters.

Since the start of political tension with China in 2020 following a border clash, India's ban list, which initially had 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, has expanded to cover 321 apps.

India believes user data was being sent via the apps to servers in China, one of the government sources, who sought anonymity in line with policy, told Reuters.

Such collection would allow the data to be mined, collated, analysed and profiled, potentially by "elements hostile to the sovereignty and integrity of India and for activities detrimental to national security," the source said.