In 1960, India Was Ahead of China. Here's What Changed the Story 📊 It's easy to forget that in 1960, India actually had the edge higher life expectancy, a larger industrial base, and stronger democratic institutions, while China was still recovering from the Great Leap Forward and one of the deadliest famines in history. Yet six decades later, China's economy dwarfs India's. The turning point traces back to timing: China began market reforms in 1978, while India didn't liberalize until 1991, over a decade later. The two nations also took fundamentally different paths. China leaned into manufacturing, becoming "the factory of the world," while India carved out global leadership in IT, software, and business services instead. China built infrastructure at breakneck speed — highways, ports, airports, and over 45,000 km of high-speed rail — while India's projects often moved more steadily, slowed by bureaucracy. China also invested heavily in literacy and vocational training, and its ce...