I don’t why, but every time I come across news where India is ahead of China, I get immense pleasure. Even a higher production of menthol mint oil excites me. Here are some more:

1.According to ‘World Wealth Report’, an annual survey by Capegemini SA and Merril Lynch, the number of people with over $1 million to invest, not including the value of their homes or consumable goods rose by 23% in India over last year posting the biggest gains in millionaires, when China posted 20%.

2.India receives the highest remittances of about $ 27 billion from Indian national working abroad followed by China’s 25.7 billion.

3.According to the third Annual Synovate Young Asians study, Hapiness Rating for the respondents aged between age 8-24 for India was 98% as against 76% for China.

4.India has become the largest producer of menthol mint oil in the world, overtaking China with a production of about 17,000 tonnes, 78 per cent share of the annual global output of menthol mint oil.

5.Movies and guru: As Tarun Khanna writes, ” The Indian film market is twice as large as that of China. India produces more than 800 Hindi movies a year, and its film industry has an estimated annual turnover of nearly $1.3 billion, employing 6 million people. In 2006, revenues of the Chinese film market were approximately $737 million… While traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts have plenty of followers in the west, no single ambassador has achieved the fame and influence of Vivekanand or (Deepak) Chopra today… Eight percent of Americans report having tried yoga in some form, whereas only 3 % have tried tai chi. In an attempt to popularize tai chi, one enterprising instructor reports choreographing tai chi movements with yoga postures.”

6.English writers: Indians writing in English are making their marks better in West than Chinese. Recently, Manil Suri’s first novel, The Death of Vishnu, published by WW Norton and Co. in the US, was excerpted in The New Yorker and had a $350,000 (Rs1.5 crore) advance.

7.India closely follows China among the most popular countries for sourcing foreign talent, according to a Manpower Inc survey titled ‘Borderless Workforce’.It has better potential to lead.

8. One is not surprised when the Global Competitiveness Report (2006-2007) ranks China 6th in terms of macroeconomic performance, whereas India is ranked lowly 88th out of 125 countries. However, the same report ranks India higher than China in terms of overall rankings. It ranked India 43rd in Global Competitiveness Index, whereas China is ranked 54th. At various other factors at micro-level, apart from macroeconomic performance, to calculate the Index, India performs much better than China on almost all parameters. On the Innovation Index, India is ranked 23rd, whereas China is ranked 57th. On the Institutions Index, India is ranked 25th, against China’s rank of 80th. In terms of Market Efficiency also, India performs much better with rank of 21 compared to China’s rank of 56.

9.India is ahead of China in exploiting technology: The World Economic Forum, which assessed 127 countries based on their ability to exploit available information and communication technology has ranked India at the 50th place, when China is at the 57th position this year.

10.India had vis-à-vis China much higher skill level among its women population. However, Chinese women are much more likely to be in the workforce despite that country’s lower percentage of skilled women in the total population. While Indian women represent 38 per cent of enrolment in higher education in 2004, the workforce participation rate for women remains very low, at about 18 per cent in urban areas. According to latest government figures, less than 9% of all women in Delhi are earning members of their families. Are the women listening?

11.Immobility of labour in China: While there are no restrictions on mobility of talent in India, China still follows the “Hukoku” system that discourages graduates and skilled or semi-skilled labour based in remote provinces from working in more developed areas. For example, a graduate from a second-tier city who wants to work in Shanghai will have to overcome considerable obstacles, including mobility restrictions. The government works as Raj Thackray there.

12.Low proportion of Chinese students returning from study abroad: While the pace of Indian students returning home after higher studies abroad has been increasing due to better opportunities, it’s exactly the opposite in China.

13. Poor English skills will continue to be one the biggest obstacles to China’s becoming the premier offshoring location for MNCs. If you take the mean scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), China’s results are lower than India’s in all subjects (although higher than worldwide averages), especially in listening comprehension.

14.China, followed by India will be a top destination for sourcing for the retail and the consumer sectors in the coming years. While cost is still the key driver of global sourcing activities, mature companies are shifting focus to gain greater efficiency in the competitive market, with focus on better quality products and collaborative supplier relationships, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.

“There are many other factors that weigh heavily in favour of India, including the demographic profile of its population, its superior banking system, its more sensible approach towards environmental issues, its lead in IT and other knowledge-based industries, its vibrant domestic private sector and, above all, its fully matured democracy, which is more basic to sustainable economic growth than most realize.”-Source: India and China – Comparing the Incomparable

India must build on its own stronger areas, and innovate new ways to improve its yields in agriculture, where with larger arable land, it can leave China behind. It must also focus on manufacturing sector to provide employment to the large population that is getting released from agriculture sector in rural India.