20 per cent decline in demand after social media campaign to boycott Chinese goods during Diwali, says traders body CAIT

The social media campaign to boycott Chinese goods during Diwali has beaten down sentiment of retail traders as there has been a 20 per cent decline in demand so far, traders body CAIT said on Friday.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that Chinese lighting and decorative products are widely used during Diwali and such materials start flooding the Indian markets three months priorto the festive season.

"There has been a debate in social media on boycotting Chinese product. These products are already with thewholesalers but there has been a 20 per cent decline in demandfrom the retail traders as they are worried whether peoplewill actually buy it or not," he said.

There has been a social media call for boycott of Chinesegoods in India following that country's opposition to a UN banon JeM chief Masood Azhar as well Beijing obstructing India'smembership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Khandelwal said CAIT will go with the mood of the peopleand honour their calls for ban on Chinese products."We expect that the goods which are in stock with thewholesalers will get sold over time, otherwise a lot of cashof traders will get stuck," he said.