A Comparative Analysis of Recent Export Performances

In the ranking of the largest economies of the world measured by their gross domestic products in terms of 1995 constant US$, China and India stood at the 19th and 20th positions in 1980 but in 2005 the ranking places them at the 7thand 12th positions respectively. Such a quantum jump of these two economies, particularly China, over two and a half decades is remarkable1. What is interesting to know is, measured in terms of per capita income in current international dollars with purchasing power parity, China was lagging behind India by $ 223 in 1980, but overtook India with a difference of $ 1,450 in 2000. Based on the IMF data, the per capita income in current international dollars with purchasing power parity in 2005 worked out to be $ 3,320 and $ 7,150 for India and China respectively. Such a dynamic growth performance of China and a respectable growth performance of India raise several interesting questions.

For example, is China’s growth miracle different from what we observed in other Asian countries? While China has demonstrated its potential to grow faster consistently for several years, why doesn’t India exhibit the same kind of dynamism? As a latecomer, what can India learn from China’s growth process? These interesting and important questions have occupied the minds of development economists always. There is now rich literature on the economic developments of these two countries including their reform processes and their impacts on macroeconomic policies and overall economic growth. Though some of the conclusions in these studies are controversial, there is consensus that 1 Sachs and Woo (2000) have provided a comprehensive exposition about the factors behind the successful economic performance of China. 2 In the eyes of many observers, by the end of the 1990s India had moved to being a “six percent growth” economy: not a ‘miracle’ perhaps, but certainly respectable.