Over 200 Chinese mobile apps banned in India

Along with continued U.S. scrutiny, China is continuing to face difficulties in the import and export of its hardware and software services. A few days ago, Japan restricted its semiconductor exports to China, and now India has blocked more than 200 mobile apps and websites with links to China.

India's Ministry of Home Affairs has reportedly banned 232 mobile apps and websites in an as-yet undisclosed order. While some of these apps were developed by Indians, they are suspected of transferring data to China. The list of blocked apps and websites includes 138 betting and gambling apps, as well as 94 apps offering credit services.

While the reasons for this blanket block have not been made public, they may be related to national security, as this is one of the areas overseen by the Ministry of the Interior. However, political tensions between China and India are also high.

Shares of India's digital payments leader Paytm jumped a record 20 percent in morning trading after news of the block on China-related credit and lending services broke, PayU, the creator of the LazyPay lending app, told Bloomberg:

Due to unavoidable circumstances, our website and applications are currently unavailable through some Internet Service Providers. Please be assured that we are making every effort to resolve this issue.

PayU is owned by South Africa's Naspers, which is also the largest shareholder in Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings.

The move is just the latest in India's efforts to tighten its grip on the Chinese tech industry operating in the country. Last year, it considered banning the sale of Chinese phones priced below $150.

via Bloomberg