A tale of two Asian nations

Lenovo's latest ultrabook is available for customers in a Lenovo exclusive store in Bangalore, India. IDC predicted India's PC shipments will reach 16.78 million in 2016 from 10.6 million last year. [Photo/China Daily]

How China and India compare economically, demographically

China and India are the two countries most often compared with each other among the economic grouping known as BRIC nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Many are speculating which of the largest and second largest populous nations will become the winner in the information technology era.

Comparing the two countries' gross domestic products, average annual per capita incomes, PC shipments, basic infrastructure and IT spendings, China nearly always comes out on top.

"India's PC market development is at least five years behind China," said Amar Babu, managing director of Lenovo India, who has been working in India's IT industry for more than 23 years.

However, even though the Chinese economy historically has outpaced India's by just about every measure, who will win the IT war in the future?

Similarities

As the only two countries in the world with populations exceeding 1 billion, China and India share many common points.

Surging GDP growth, an emerging middle class, rising urbanization, increasing small and medium-sized enterprises and the number of female company owners have all provided big opportunities for the two countries' information technology development.

Both of the countries have sustained the world's highest annual GDP growth in the past 10 years - 9 percent for China, about 7 percent for India. After the 2008 financial global crisis, the two have been said by global financial experts to be "among the world's most successful in weathering the challenges of the global economy's great recession".

According to the most recent censuses of each nation, China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that there were 1.266 billion people in China in 2000 while the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India said the country had 1.029 billion in 2001.

However, according to the International Monetary Fund, China's GDP was $6,988.47 billion in 2011 while India's was only $1,843.38 billion. The figures and data showed that back in 1990, China and India's annual average per capita income were both around $350 - with India's slightly higher.

The situation started to change after that. In 2009, the gap increased to $2,410 per person, but the order was reversed. The annual average per capita income in China reached $3,590 in 2009, while India's was only $1,180 in the same year.

Income differences

The economic growth and situation are like barometers to a country's IT spending and development. Comparing the two countries' economic figures and IT spending, India is far behind the Middle Kingdom.

According to the IMF, India's level of income per capita in 2009 was achieved by China nine years ago. However, the organization did not say Indians will necessarily be as wealthy as Chinese people are now in the next nine years.