China and India Exposed

But some dubious assertions have, through constant repetition in recent, often breathless, accounts about the two economies, become part of conventional wisdom. Much of what really goes on inside these two large countries is often left out.
For example, in terms of value added (the value of output after deducting the cost of materials and components), China, contrary to popular impression, is not yet the manufacturing center of the world. The Chinese produce about 15% of value added in world manufacturing, while the United States contributes about 24% and the European Union about 20%.
Similarly, while India’s information technology-enabled services have gained an international reputation, the total number of people employed in this sector is less than 0.5% of India’s workforce. As such, it cannot, by itself, transform the Indian economy.