A Comparison of Economic Growth of China and India and its Outcome

Description

Page: 113-117

Gurmangeet Kaur Pandey (Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi)

In this article, the growth trajectories of India and China are analysed. At first, a small section is devoted to discussion on political developments happening in India and China in the 1980s. Then there is a discussion about the economic growth of India and China before the 1980s, that is the period before the introduction of economic reforms in India and China. Then economic reforms introduced by both the countries and the methods by which they were put in place are discussed. Finally, the outcome of the economic reforms in India and China are discussed and a major thrust is put on the comparison of the state of public sector undertakings in both countries. It is found that China introduced economic reforms gradually and in a strategic way and built a strong industrial base before opening up its economy. In the case of India, economic reforms were introduced in a highly abrupt manner and also India failed to build a strong manufacturing base before opening up its economy. All this is discussed to answer the question of why the outcomes of economic reforms in both countries were starkly different in spite of being introduced at the same time and inspite of the fact that the condition of both economies was the same in the 1980s.