Shanghai---India's democratically elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi viewed Shanghai's gleaming skyscrapers at the weekend in search of pointers for his economy, but China believes its one-party state is a key reason for its growth miracle.
China began moving away from its closed-off, Maoist command economy in 1978, recruiting market forces under Deng Xiaoping's "reform and opening up" banner to power its rise to the world's number two economy.
State infrastructure investment and favourable treatment for foreign companies have made Shanghai the planet's largest port, a gateway to the world for Chinese goods.
"Shanghai is indeed among the Chinese cities with the most advanced economies," Shanghai Vice Mayor Zhou Bo proudly told Modi.
In 1980, as China was embarking on change, the Asian giants' GDPs were almost identical, according to the World Bank -- with India a fraction ahead on $189.6 billion at current prices, compared to $189.4 billion for its northern neighbour.
Since then different paths have been followed either side of the Himalayas and by 2013, China's GDP was almost five times higher, $9.24 trillion compared with $1.88 trillion.
Wen Fude, director of Sichuan University's Institute of South Asian Studies, said Beijing has moved more decisively on economic reform than New Delhi.
"China first threw open the door (to foreign investment), then dealt with the legal basis," he told AFP. "Every time India opens the door, it's just a small crack."
Now India is seeking Chinese help in the areas in which it is strong: building high-speed rail lines and power plants, as well as setting up the manufacturing bases that made China the workshop of the world.
"We have to learn from you," Modi told a Shanghai business forum, citing China's foreign investment environment, infrastructure creation and export-led development model.
Economically, nationalist Modi is seen as a liberalising reformer whose home state Gujarat boomed under his rule, and his election last year raised enthusiastic hopes among foreign investors.
AFP
