I have always been fascinated with the so-called culture race between India and China. In fact we produced a short, humorous India versus China video about the rivalry. Publicly, neither country takes the competition seriously but I know from observation in both countries, the comparison ignites fierce debate. Therefore, allow me to take a look at the numbers both curious and serious.
Forbes list of Asia’s "top" fifty public companies showcases 7 Chinese companies and twelve from India. Interestingly, only four of the 12 companies are technology related.
| India | China |
| 12 | 7 |
-
2006 GDP Survey using Purchasing Power Parity
India cashes in at an impressive $4.158 trillion (PPP) but China doubles up on India with an astounding $9.984 trillion
| India | China |
| $4.158 Trillion | $9.984 trillion |
Indian companies did 32 outbound deals during the first half of 2007 while China, lagged behind with a meager 14 deals.
| India | China |
| 32 | 14 |
-
GDP in Services
While a larger proportion of people are employed in services in China versus India, the amount of contribution to GDP is interesting because India’s share is 50% while China’s is only 33%. This is probably due to China having a more productive manufacturing industry.
Share of GDP in Services
| India | China |
| 50% | 33% |
-
India versus China Internet Users
In January 2007, ComScore Networks announced that India, China and Russia experienced the highest audience growth year over year. They measured unique users and determined China to be far ahead of India in number of users.
| India | China |
| 51,107,000 | 111,757,000 |
-
India versus China Billionaires
According to Forbes list of Billionaires India has more billionaires then China and they are a lot wealthier. So what does this mean, only that it’s easier to become extremely wealthy in India despite a weaker GDP. Moreover, India’s rich are richer than China’s despite China’s economic advantages. By the way, we recently we did a story about a record number of India's millionaires .
The Top India and China Billionaires
| Rank | Name | Citizenship | Age | Net Worth ($Bil) | Residence |
| 14 | India | 49 | 20.1 | India | |
| 390 | China | 49 | 2.4 | Hong Kong |
| India | China |
| 32 | 20 |
-
India vs. China Mobile Phone Usage
As we have explored earlier, the number of internet users in China far exceeds India although the number of CDMA users in India exceeds that of China. As for total mobile users as of July 2007, China is the largest mobile market in the world with 491 million subscribers to India's 189 million.
| India | China |
| 189 million | 491 million |
-
India vs. China Median Age
A definite India advantage given that half the population is under 25. The demographic is a large competitive advantage 10 – 30 years from now when an aging China’s one-child policy will limit the amount of workers able to work during this period.
-
India vs. China Literacy Rates
A big competitive disadvantage for India as China by far leads in this category. There simply is no excuse for India to lag behind here and doing so for much longer will cripple India’s economy. I’ll give the communists one advantage over its rival democracies, the literacy rates tend to be higher in the communists countries. Even the communist controlled areas in India enjoy a much higher literacy rate then the democratic areas.
| India | China |
| 60% | 91% |
-
India vs. China Poverty
Both China and India have high numbers of people in poverty conditions. I think the number for China and India is much higher than stated here, but it depends on the definition of poverty.
| Statistic | India | China |
| % of People | 25% | 10% |
| # of People | 273 million | 131 million |
Summary
There's no question about it India lags behind China in every major category save IT offshoring. However, India is planting the seeds that will eventually catch in surpass China in most of the categories cited above. You have heard me preach the infrastructure sermon for quite some time and I see it as India’s only major obstacle to becoming a true superpower.
Suggested Reading
1 comments:
I find the comparisons between India and China hilarious, especially the talk about converting Mumbai (better known as Slumbai) into Shanghai. Why can't we focus on improving our infrastructure such as public transport and improve the quality of life of its citizens instead of blindly aping the West (Oops.. Far East in this case).
Post a Comment