China began reforming its economy in 1976. India began reforming its economy in 1991. As such, China had a 10-15 year head start [0], especially thanks to Ameri

China began reforming its economy in 1976. India began reforming its economy in 1991. As such, China had a 10-15 year head start [0], especially thanks to American support in the 1980s as a bulwark against the USSR (sounds familiar?). When you compare the Indian metrics with Chinese metrics from 10-15 years ago, the difference becomes marginal. For example, India's 2023 HDI (0.685) versus China's 2008 HDI (0.672) or India's 2025 GDP PPP per Capita (~$12K) and China's 2010 GDP PPP per Capita (~$12K). Even the way NYT writes news articles about Apple's manufacturing in India [1] in 2025 use the same tone as NYT articles about Apple manufacturing in China [2] in 2012. [0] - https://www.mitsui.com/mgssi/en/report/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2020/06/05/2003d_suzuki_e_1.pdf https://www.mitsui.com/mgssi/en/report/detail/__icsFiles/afi... [1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/business/apple-foxconn-india.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/business/apple-foxconn-in... [2] - https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000001313019/made-in-china.html https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000001313019/made-...