A ban, a Chinese e-comm firm and case of distraught Indian sellers

Indian sellers say hundreds of them have been denied legitimate payments, cite a host of other malpractices by China's Club Factory

In July 2020, middle-class Indians smashed ‘Made-in-China’ television sets, burnt effigies of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and rallied behind their leaders to support the call for forging an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Around the same time, a Chinese company was allegedly plotting an escape plan without fulfilling its contractual obligations to business partners in India.

The company was Club Factory, once the third-largest shopping app in India, after Amazon and Flipkart, in terms of monthly active users (MAU). On June 29, 2020, the Centre banned Club Factory and 58 other Chinese apps, citing concerns about the data privacy of Indian users.