13 Parameters to Compare India and China

India, along with China, represents two of the most ancient and remaining civilisations. For Europeans, they were renowned locations of enormous wealth and wisdom through the 18th century. In the late eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, both of these countries were, in European perception, words for slow, archaic, fragile nations that changed their age structure. For China, this occurred amid the praise that was the hallmark of Voltaire and the more intelligent opinion of Montesquieu. In India’s case, it was the stark contrast between Sir William Jones’s determination to understand the aspects of India’s aspects and James Mill’s denial of Indian history as nothing more than darkness. 

13 Parameters to Compare India and China

• Area

•  India

Total: 3,287,263 sq km

Land: 2,973,193 sq km

Water: 314,070 sq km

•  China

Total: 9,596,960 sq km

Land: 9,326,410 sq km

Water: 270,550 sq km

• Population

• India

Total Population: 1,387,297,452 (May,2020)

• China

Total Population: 1,439,323,776 (May,2020)

• Age Structure

•  India: Age structure

0-14 years: 28.5% (male 187,016,401/female 165,048,695)

15-24 years: 18.1% (male 118,696,540/female 105,342,764)

25-54 years: 40.6% (male 258,202,535/female 243,293,143)

55-64 years: 7% (male 43,625,668/female 43,175,111)

65 years and over: 5.8% (male 34,133,175/female 37,810,599) (2014 est.)

•  China: Age structure

0-14 years: 17.1% (male 124,340,516/female 107,287,324)

15-24 years: 14.7% (male 105,763,058/female 93,903,845)

25-54 years: 47.2% (male 327,130,324/female 313,029,536)

55-64 years: 11.3% (male 77,751,100/female 75,737,968)

65 years and over: 9.6% (male 62,646,075/female 68,102,830) (2014 est.)

• Population Growth Rate        

• India: 1.25% (2014 est.)           

• China: 0.44% (2014 est.)

• Life Expectancy at Birth

• India               

Total Population: 69 years

Male: 67.8 years (2019 est.)

Female: 70.4 years (2019 est.)

• China

Total Population: 75.15 years

Male: 73.09 years

Female: 77.43 years (2014 est.)

• Expenditures on Education & Health         

• India: 5.1% of GDP (2015-16)
• China:  7.2 % of GDP (2015-16)

• Labour force – by Occupation

•  India

Agriculture: 49%

Industry: 20%

Services: 31% (2012 est.)             

•  China

Agriculture: 33.6%

Industry: 30.3%

Services: 36.1%

• Unemployment Rate 

• India: 24 % (2020)
• China: 4.3% (2020)

As per reports of CMIE, around 27 million youth in the age group of 20-30 years lost their jobs in April 2020 due to the lockdown in India, which caused a heavy unemployment rate.

• SIZE of Economy (PPP)

•  India : US$ 11,321,280 million
•  China: US$ 27,804,953 million

• GDP Growth Rate (2020)

• India: 1.2% (Q4,2020)
• China: 2.3% (ADB forcaste for 2020)

• Gross Domestic Product Composition

•  India:

Agriculture and allied sector shares 15.87%), Industry sector contributes 29.73% and Services (54.40%)

• China: Agriculture (9.7%), Industry (43.9%) and Services (46.4%)

The service sector is the backbone of the Indian economy, while it is the manufacturing sector of the economy of China.

• External debt

• India: US$ 564 billion by Dec. 2019
• China: US$2 trillion by June 2019

It means India is a more debt-ridden country as compared to china. As of December 2019, India had a foreign debt of US$ 564 billion, which was US$446 billion in 2014. Whereas by the end of 2019, China had a debt of 2 trillion dollars.

• Defence Budget:

• India: US$ 70 billion in Feb. 2020
• China: US$178 billion in May 2020

Significant Key Difference between both countries

Both India and China are rapidly growing, and the entire world is keeping an eye on them. While both countries initially adopted socialist economics in the latter half of the 20th century, India and China have completely changed their ways from age structure to unemployment rate. As India shifts toward a more traditional free-market model, China embraces a command economy while embracing capitalism whenever it is convenient. Both nations have vastly different economic and political systems and internationally very different objectives.

Conclusion

India and China have maintained peace in their relations for thousands of years. However, the harmony of their relationship has changed over time, just like they changed their age structure and unemployment rate, particularly since the reign of China’s Communist Party in China; the two countries have sought to work together economically with one. China as well as India are both main regional powerhouses in Asia. They are two of the most populous nations and among the fastest-growing major economies around the globe, controlling life expectancy at a birth rate. Increased influence on the economic and diplomatic front has increased the importance of their relationship.