Who will be no.1: China or India ?

“China and India have pursued radically different development strategies. India is not outperforming China overall, but it is doing better in certain key areas. That success may enable it to catch up with or even overtake China.

China's export-led manufacturing boom is largely a creation of foreign direct investment (FDI), which effectively serves as a substitute for domestic entrepreneurship.
China has been far bolder with external reforms but has imposed substantial legal and regulatory constraints on indigenous, private firms. These restrictions are designed to prevent private domestic businesses from challenging China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs).


Foreign investors have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the constraints placed on local private businesses in China.


China's bureaucrats remain the gatekeepers, controlling capital allocation tightly and restricting severely private companies' access to the stock market to spur growth.


India has been making life easier for local businesses.

It has provided a more nurturing environment for domestic entrepreneurs. In the process, India has managed to spawn a number of companies that now compete with the best in Europe and the United States.


India has backed away from micromanaging the economy, and this has benefited the private sector.


Democracy, a tradition of entrepreneurship and a strong legal system have given India the underpinnings necessary for free enterprise to flourish.

Protection of private ownership is far stronger than in China.

These traditions and institutions have proved an excellent springboard for the emergence and evolution of India's capital markets.

The stock and bond markets generally make it possible for firms with solid prospects and a sterling reputation to obtain the capital they need to grow.


By relying primarily on organic growth, India is making fuller use of its resources and has chosen a path that may well deliver more sustainable progress than China's FDI-driven approach.
”