A Comparative Analysis of China and India's Roads to Development

Introduction:

India and China are two of the most populous nations of the world. For their economic development, both the countries have taken unique paths. Even though they have a kind of similarity in their population count, geographic challenges and ancient civilisations, they have significantly different pathways. Through this comparison, there is an aim to understand the diverse approach that these countries have taken to attain development.

Economic Growth and Industrialisation:

China has embarked on this path of rapid industrialisation since their economic reforms. These have been initiated in the late 20th century which has noted a transition. This transition has been from a state-planned economy to a market-oriented economy. With the development of industries, China became a more labour-intensive country and achieved success in those. China became known as the “world’s factory”. This was mainly because of their openness to the international economy as well as their domestic market liberalisation (Baldwin and Freeman 2020). They have been more focused on their export market which attracted foreign investments. With the help of their manufacturing capabilities, China has become more efficient. This expansion has also helped create job opportunities and improve equality.

During the 1990s, India had adopted a more gradual approach to economic liberalisation. With the help of the initial reforms, the country has been able to open their economy. According to Siddiqui (2020), during this, the goal was to expand through foreign investments and the private sector. This was seen as a way through which one can achieve economic development and growth. Unlike China, India has adopted a more service-oriented growth. For this, the information technology sector has played a major role in the economic development of the country.

Social and Cultural Dimensions:

In authoritarian governance, there is no political plurality and a rejection of democracy. There is a central power which can preserve the political status quo. As per Yao et al. (2021), China’s development can be characterised to its government to some extent. The current government is one who prefers economic stability. Therefore, the strong state control has helped with the economic development of the country. The country has experienced rapid urbanisation with millions of people moving to urban regions from rural regions. This has led to expansion of the urban centres as people have migrated to those in search of employment. This is one of the major issues which has led to urbanisation and GDP growth.

Contrasted to China, India is having democratic governance which has allowed for the country to have a unique blend of cultures and traditions. This has also led to a diverse and pluralistic society. This has helped with higher human capital accumulation, lower political instability, lower inflation and higher economic freedom. This has helped with improvements in the efficient use of resources (Ahmed and Ahmad 2020). With the advent of urbanisation, India has faced major challenges with informal settlements and inadequate infrastructures.

Social Welfare and Inequality:

Due to the economic growth strategies adopted by China, there has been poverty reduction. This has also led to millions of people coming out of poverty. This has encouraged people to send their children to educational institutions. This has been done by the guardians in hopes that the investment made in education will generate better incomes. China’s poverty level has dropped from 66.3 percent to 0.3 percent.

With the implementation of several strategies, India too has noted reduction in poverty. However, when noticing India’s pace of poverty, it has been noted that the pace is highly uneven. As mentioned by Kumar et al. (2020), there have been noted high levels of disparities across different states. This is mainly because of the lack of proper implementation and targeting. In India, there have been both social and regional disparities noted which have come down from historical factors. This is mainly due to the caste system which has seen high levels of challenges. This has led to a section of people feeling inferior and insecure.

Environmental Sustainability:

With the rapid levels of industrialisation, China has taken the brunt of environmental concerns. With the large levels of air and water pollution, China has been facing a lot of environmental concerns. Most of the groundwater has been contaminated by industrial waste and toxins. To combat the environmental concerns, China has been focusing on the green initiatives which are helping the country to grow. An added focus is on pollution control and renewable energy. The new economic growth is to be achieved by cutting down carbon emissions and reducing pollution (Lee 2020). There have also been international collaborations where China has participated in international climate agreements and has committed to sustainability. The country is also looking forward to green finance.

India is facing severe environmental issues like air pollution and deforestation. As stated by Bisht et al. (2020), this has pushed the country to a need for balance of both economic development and environmental preservation. There needs to be adoption of clean and renewable energy sources. Overall, there needs to be enhancement of the environmental compliances and regulations.

Conclusion:

Both India and China are on their journey of economic development. They have distinct cultural, political and historical backgrounds which have shaped the country’s current trajectory. China is having rapid industrial growth with its focus on foreign investments and export led markets. In contrast, India has a more gradual economic development with their service-oriented markets. Factors like political, social and environmental factors have further highlighted the uniqueness.

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