China and India - a comparison and impacts

Our children should be getting a little nervous.

These two countries will only increase their influence on world economics in the future.

An additional fact is Chindia's dependency on coal. If coal ran out, the world would not be able to support Chindia's need for oil (increased by 7% from 2000 to 2008). Due to this dependency, Chindia will significantly increase CO2 emissions by 2025.

Here are ten 2007 details from several sources, including the U.S. Census Department, the CIA Factbook, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Economist Intelligence Unit and others:

1. China produces 3 times the electricity of India; more than 4 times the oil; and more than 1.5 times the natural gas.

2. On the consumption side, China consumes more than twice the oil of India and almost 1.5 times the natural gas.

3. China’s share of global oil consumption was 9% versus 3% by India.

4. The Chinese GDP expressed in US dollars is three times the Indian GDP ($2.5 trillion versus $0.8 trillion).

5. China has received more than 10 times the total foreign direct investment as India ($700 billion versus $68 billion). China has made direct investments abroad that are more than 3 times that of India ($67 billion versus $21 billion).

6. The market capitalization of the 10 largest companies today in China is $1.8 trillion, whereas the market capitalization of the 10 largest companies in India is only $0.5 trillion.

7. India’s population is smaller than China’s, but is growing more rapidly. In 1995, China had nearly 33% more people. By 2005, China had less than 20% more people. By 2025, their populations will be about equal. After that, India will have a larger population.

8. China has a 40% lower infant mortality rate than India, and a longer life expectancy.

9. Literacy is dramatically different. Only 61% of Indians over the age of 15 can read and write, while nearly 91% of Chinese over 15 can read and write. The development and therefore economic value of women is higher in China where 86.5% are literate, whereas in India only 47.8% of women are literate.

10. India has the fourth largest coal reserves in the world, while China has the world’s largest hydropower potential.

From another source -

Through the first 8 years of the 21st century, Chinese and Indian oil import demand (according to the IEA) increased at an annual average close to 400 000 barrels per day each year, raising their 'call on world exports' from near zero to about 7% of total. We can compare this with the approx. 26% of world export supply taken by the USA, and another 26% taken by the EU-27 countries, or the 11% of world oil exports taken by Japan.

Chindia oil import demand is modest not only because of poverty, but also due to King Coal. Combined coal and lignite burning of China and India was about 2.6 Bn tons in 2008, near 40% of world coal and lignite output, and growing fast. Without this massive, and massively polluting coal burn Chindia 'call' on world oil exports would, of course, be much higher - and would also be completely impossible to service and supply.