Why China Got Rich Before India

为什么中国比印度先富裕起来

China and India have something in common that almost no other countries on Earth share: over a billion people, ancient civilizations, and roughly the same economic starting line just a few decades ago.

Yet today, China’s economy sits near $20 trillion, while India’s is around $4 trillion. On a per-person basis, the gap is even wider—China’s GDP per capita is over five times larger.

中国和印度有一些共同点是世界上其他国家都不具备的：两国人口都超过十亿，都是古老的文明古国，并且在几十年前，两国的经济起点几乎一致

然而如今，中国经济总量接近20万亿美元，印度GDP为4万亿美元。人均层面的差距则更加悬殊——中国的人均GDP是印度的五倍多。

以下是印度网友的评论：

morbid747
All developed countries have to go through the manufacturing phase.
India always assume it's the only exception.

所有发达国家都得先发展制造业。印度却总以为自己是唯一一个可以跳过这个阶段的国家。

 

sweetpotato3910
You can see the different from asian games too, not just their economy
China 92 gold
India 2 gold
That a huge different

不只是经济，亚运会的金牌榜也能看出差距。中国已经拿到了92枚金牌，印度才拿到2枚金牌，差距非常悬殊。

 

workoutfanatic7873
When China and India both make it to the World Cup, that’s the prize

什么时候中印两国都能打进世界杯，那才是值得大吹特吹的成就

frankyfirman
​ @workoutfanatic7873 China made their sole appearance in WC at 2002. India, i dont think they'll qualify in foreseeable future.

中国只在2002年进过一次世界杯。印度，我认为短期内很难拿到世界杯入场券。

 

shrihari6860
This is not a big deal...
Sporting culture is different in India and China
China and it's government deliberately promote it's people in all kinds of sports so that they can win gold for their country,Multi-Game sporting events considered as an elite thing there,but in india people do play games for fun and entertainment,not to win in competetion.
India should focus on manufacturing and economic upliftment first,then can focus on wng Gold.

这不算什么大事，印度和中国的体育文化不一样。中国会主动推动民众参与各类体育项目，争取为国夺金。综合性大赛在中国被当成重量级的参赛国家。但在印度，大家运动主要是为了消遣玩乐，不是为了比赛拿名次。印度应该先重点发展制造业、提振经济，之后再去争取金牌。

kinwahlo4688
​ @shrihari6860 it's showing people are different.chinese are more determinative while indians more argurmantative

这恰恰体现出两国人的差别。中国人更有执行力，印度人更喜欢争论。

LeiChen_8000
@shrihari6860 Then why are Indians so enthusiastic about hosting an Olympic Game, an extremely competitive event?

 那为什么印度又那么热衷于申办奥运会这种高强度竞技赛事？

 

rogersliu1200
no bs religious. only. human that works

抛开宗教那套虚的。只有实干才能成事。

 

s.c8410
India shall focus on catching up with Bangladesh. India per capital gdp is $2812 vs $2911 based on Google.

印度先想着追上孟加拉国吧。谷歌数据显示，印度人均GDP是2812美元，孟加拉国是2911美元。

 

CaliforniaNails-d2o
Almost all countries that have successfully industrialized their economies/completed their industrialization phase of economic development happen to be high income developed countries today, shocking right?
It seems the path to prosperity is industrialization at least historically that is
Answer: Productivity, Innovation, and Competiveness

几乎所有成功完成工业化、走完工业化发展阶段的国家，如今都成了高收入发达国家，是不是很出人意料？至少从历史来看，工业化就是走向富裕的必经之路。关键在于：生产力、创新能力和竞争力。

 

Mar-ec7et
China started the inglu Canal... and factories can move inland cities where it is cheaper. Movement of goods can move thru inglu to coastal cities for export and sales.

中国修建了平陆运河，工厂可以搬迁到成本更低的内陆城市。货物能通过平陆运河运到沿海城市，再出口外销。

 

benjaminchen5715
China focused aggressively on infrastructure, manufacturing, housing, jobs, and raising living standards across a very broad section of the population.
India’s growth in customer service, high-tech, engineering, and management created many good jobs, but those opportunities disproportionately went to the educated and professional classes.
I remember the philosophy of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew very clearly: economic development has to improve the everyday lives of ordinary people — give them homes, jobs, education, healthcare, and rising incomes. Political institutions alone do not put food on the table.

中国大力投入基建、制造业、住房、就业，大范围提升普通民众的生活水平。印度在高科技、工程、管理领域的发展，确实创造了不少优质岗位，但机会大多集中在受过高等教育的专业群体手里。我清楚记得新加坡国父李光耀的理念：经济发展必须改善普通人的日常生活，给大家提供住房、工作岗位、教育机会、医疗条件，让收入上涨。

 

pahatpahat9566
The other issue is when India got involved in the answering phone calls business, they thought they are in control of all the industries as they are called for all kinds of advice. With such mind set, many Indians think the world needs them for advice, unable to differentiate that most of these calls come from the West and especially made by people seeking for very every day issues. And all these are ended by AI just now.

还有一个问题：印度承接呼叫中心业务之后，很多人就以为自己掌握了各行各业，觉得全世界都要来听他们的建议。抱着这种想法，不少印度人误以为全球都离不开他们的服务，分不清这些来电大多来自西方，只是普通人的日常咨询而已。而现在，人工智能正在取代这类工作。

 

JonTan-z3e
china could serve the entire world, something which even Japan could not, not just by making expensive high end stuff for rich developed populations which was only a handful of countries and tiny percentage of the worlds pop back in the 20th century......china could serve the african,south american and even the massive asian continent of billions with their massive population producing goods for every level and class of society that even america and japan and south korea could not.....china made goods accessible even for the poorest of the poor countries.
most it and software development jobs in india are backend jobs, the glorious one, the high paying ones, the indians hired in silicon valley and overseas is probably even a tinier and much smaller niche.....maybe a few million out of a population of hundreds of milllions of working adults....

中国能供货给全世界，这点连日本都做不到。20世纪很多国家只给少数发达国家的富人生产昂贵高端产品，中国不一样。中国面向非洲、南美，还有拥有数十亿人口的亚洲市场，产能巨大，商品覆盖社会各个阶层，这点美国、日本、韩国都比不上。哪怕最贫困国家，也买得起中国制造。

印度大部分IT和软件开发岗位都是后台基础工作。那些光鲜高薪的岗位，只有极少数印度人能拿到，去硅谷和海外工作的印度人只是很小一部分。数亿劳动人口里，可能就几百万人而已。

 

WillDasag
In China, the knowledge in math and sciences became accessible to the masses while in India there is such thing as "prestigious"school where only the elites can enroll and are selected to become leader of the country.

在中国，数学和科学知识普通大众都有机会学习。印度却有很多名校门槛很高，只有精英才能入学，这类人也是国家领导层的储备人选。

 

tforaodg
The difference is that when there is a problem
China: we may need to copy from the west but let's aim to get a solution.
India: let's have a meeting and more meetings.
20 years later, China may not have the best solution in the world but China is moving forward. India is still having meetings.

差别就在遇到问题的时候：

中国：可以借鉴西方经验，目标是拿出解决方案。

印度：先开会，开完会再接着开会。

二十年过去，中国的办法或许不是全球最优，但一直在往前推进。印度还停留在开会讨论阶段。

 

flame9826
Wdym faster? India is still poor

你说发展更快是什么意思？印度依旧很穷。

 

crazydrifter13
The problem is that AI is disrupting the services sector quite fast and especially the IT services sector which India relies on

问题是人工智能正在快速冲击服务业，尤其是印度赖以发展的IT服务行业。

 

pahatpahat9566
But didn't Indians grabbed all the top technical jobs in the West? especially in the US?

可是不是很多印度人在西方国家，尤其是美国拿到顶尖技术岗位吗？

 

TheMarcuslindberg
Why is there always a comparison between India and china? Why no difference between India and Africa or India and south America?

为什么大家总拿印度和中国对比？很少有人把印度和非洲、南美放在一起比较？

 

SantosLewynn
Africa and South America are entire continents with different countries, meaning different governments, different cultures, different education, economic, societal policies. How can you compare them with singular countries like India and China.

非洲和南美是大洲，里面包含很多国家，各国政府、文化、教育、经济、社会政策都不一样。怎么能拿来和印度、中国这种单一国家对比。

 

surma884
Both have long histories spanning 5000+ years. Both have the largest populations. Both are in the same hemisphere, and both started off very poor in the 1950s.

两国都拥有五千多年悠久历史，人口规模都位居世界前列，处在同一个半球，上世纪50年代起步的时候都十分贫困。

 

Nathan-xr4gv
Countries have the same amount of people and we're poor. China became wealthy and modern and indians are moving backwards. This is why.

两国当初人口规模相当、同样贫穷。如今中国已经非常富裕，非常现代化，印度却在走下坡路。

 

ancientbiker
It makes a huge amount of sense to compare these two countries. Both are huge Asian countries with more than 1 billion people in each. Both achieved independence at almost exactly the same time. But China's economy is 5 times the size of India's.

把这两个国家放在一起对比很有参考意义。两个都是亚洲大国，人口都超过十亿，独立时间也差不多。但中国经济体量是印度的五倍。

 

doplank4421
Remember, marco rubio said that the US wont let India to develop like China, even if all US manufacture moved to India, the US wont give its technology transfer to India. India can get ASML to develop chip but the US will never let India to develop its own chip.

记住，马尔科·卢比奥说过，美国不会让印度复制中国的发展路径。就算美国制造业全部转移到印度，美国也不会向印度转让核心技术。印度就算买到阿斯麦光刻机搞芯片，美国也不会允许印度自研芯片。

 

arijitsamanta6930
for your kind info India already devolved some specific type of chips and wanted to create a part of worlds chip manufacturing ecosystem in here

跟你说明一下，印度已经能自主研发特定种类的芯片，并且希望在本土打造全球芯片产业链的一环。

 

DeepfriedDumpling-n1o
From China…… I don’t know what is the situation there in India, but I know it’s not that simple an explanation here in China. Way more complicated, let’s say it’s unique society and political system plus opportunities and sheer luck.

我在中国，不清楚印度当地的实际情况，但我知道中国的发展没法简单几句话概括。里面因素复杂得多，可以说是独特的社会与制度，再加上时代机遇和运气共同促成的。

 

armchairwarrior963
Americans first move their factories to Mexco via NAFTA. Mexco was America's China. By the time they went to China, they just went to Chinese/others owned factories. American companies mostly put their own labels on the products.
Largest investors in China was Chinese from SEA and HK/Macau/Republic of China. Japan/West came later on. The factories were mostly built by Chinese/Overseas Chinese.

美国最早通过北美自贸协定把工厂迁到墨西哥，那时候墨西哥就相当于美国的“中国”。等后来资本进入中国，大多是入驻中国本土或者其他外资开办的工厂，美国企业主要负责贴自己的品牌商标。

当年在中国最大的投资方是东南亚华人、港澳地区的华人资本。日本和西方资本是之后才进来的，工厂大多由华人、海外华人建设。

 

nmew6926
India can't easily use same playbook. The US deputy state secretary said US won't make same mistake on India what US did on China. US dont want to see a second China.

印度很难照搬这套发展模式。美国副国务卿说过，美国不会在印度身上重蹈对华政策的覆辙，美国不想再出现第二个中国。

 

tcironbear21
China had more centralized planning (but not too much), less corruption, more comptent leaders, and idealogy that more sincerely favored general welfare. Centralized planning IS very powerful if it is in the hands of elites who know what they are doing and actually want to improve their country more than their bank account.

中国有更强的统筹规划能力（但不是过度管控），腐败问题相对更少，治理团队能力更强，发展理念更注重整体民生福祉。如果统筹规划掌握在懂行、真心想建设国家而不是只顾敛财的治理者手里，会发挥巨大力量。

 

aspiringguy3111
I disagree. IT was a stronghold for india but they did not innovate. Chinese control their population and their government is more efficient

我不认同。IT是印度的优势领域，但印度缺少自主创新。中国对社会有更强的统筹管理，政府效率更高。

 

PraveenKumar-kj8rq
Maybe oneday India will become rich as China

或许有一天，印度也能像中国一样富裕。