China's state media has published an article saying Beijing can't afford to get too complacent, especially if "India copies China", because the South Asian nation will then "gain the attention of world capital".
Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, went so far as to say "there are growing signs that India is succeeding in attracting more and more investment" and that is something China should "take seriously". Another factor in India's favour is its demographic. "As China's demographic dividend diminishes, India, with half of its population below the age of 25, is poised to take advantage," it said. And it singled out the solar energy sector in India as pretty much without competition "in supporting investors."
The article is based largely on a report by a private Beijing think tank called 'Anbound'; Global Times has bolstered that report with an Ernst & Young analysis. Much of the article is based on Anbound answering this question: "If India decided to copy China, what impact would it have and what should China do? "
"If India intentionally creates a competitive situation in front of global investors, it will pose a challenge for China. Because generally speaking, India does have the conditions to copy China's economic growth model thanks to its vast size and market, low labour costs and large population, which are all similar to China's conditions. In fact, based on the EY (Ernst & Young) report, global investors are currently undecided," Global Times wrote.
Still, the newspaper said India is "succeeding" in getting investors' attention at least, and here it cited the country's solar energy sector. "Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi hopes to boost the usage of clean energy over fossil fuels by building massive solar parks and is targeting $100 billion in investment in solar energy in the next five years, with the backing of loans from the World Bank. No other country could compete with India in supporting investors in the solar economy," Global Times wrote.
