China's System Killed Millions

India-China comparisons often take 1980 or a later year as the starting point. But a balanced understanding of the relative achievements of the two countries requires a look at prior decades as well.

Chairman Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, establishing the Communist Party of China (CPC) as the sole authority. Approximately around the same time, India opted for a democratic regime under the leadership of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. While most Indians have a good idea of what democracy delivered to them between 1950 and 1980, they perhaps know far less about China. Today, it is commonplace to argue that the Chinese economy is performing better because authoritarianism allows its government to be more effective. But few observers care to record the gigantic failures of the same authoritarianism in the early decades.

Industry and agriculture in China made progress similar to that in India in the early years of the PRC. Indeed, China was far more successful in land redistribution that quickly equalised ownership of arable land across households. On the industrial front, it set up several major factories with large-scale Soviet assistance.