It has long been noticed that there is a lack of comparative studies of the economies of China and India. Bardhan (1970) points out that, in numerous textbooks on comparative economic systems, the reader can hardly find any mention of a China-India comparative study, which should be a very important part of any discussion on comparative economic systems in the present world. One reason for this may be the unavailability and unreliability of data, particularly from China. This situation is now changing. A statement prepared by a Delhi-based China Study Group in 1988, clearly points out that ‘it has become possible to secure more reliable data on China, data that can be checked from various sources and collected through field observation’ (Bhattacharjea, Deshingkar, Deshpande, Gupta, Huang, Mohanty, Rao, Tan and Uberoi, 1988).