According to Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition, Indonesian Minister of Communications and Information Budi Arie Setiadi recently stated that Indonesia has asked Google and Apple to block the Temu app so that it cannot be downloaded in Indonesia. The Temu e-commerce platform is a product of Chinese cross-border e-commerce vendor PDD Holdings. The move by the Indonesian government is aimed at protecting the country’s small- and medium-sized businesses from having to compete with cheap products offered on the Temu platform.
Temu’s rapid overseas growth has triggered scrutiny in several countries. It’s low-cost business model involves sending packaged goods to customers by direct mail from China. The platform connects consumers directly with factories in China to significantly reduce cost by taking advantage of loopholes in the international small package mailing system.
Budi called the business model “vicious competition.” He said “we are not here to protect e-commerce, but small and medium-sized companies. We must protect millions of Indonesian businesses.” Budi also stated that the Indonesian government would block Temu from making any investment in Indonesia’s local e-commerce sector.
The Indonesian government is planning to impose similar blocking measures on Shein, another Chinese e-commerce platform. Last year, Indonesia forced TikTok to shut down its e-commerce services in the country with the aim of protecting the data of local merchants and users.
Source: RFI Chinese, October 11, 2024
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