Over the last 30 years, China and India have been among the world's fastest growing economies. In terms of poverty alleviation, their achievements have been spectacular. Between them, they have lifted around one billion people out of poverty, with China accounting for about three-quarters of the total.

However, while 30 years ago the two economies were comparable in many respects, this is no longer the case. China's performance has surpassed that of India on almost every social and economic metric.