ABSTRACT
In a long-term and secular sense, economic growth in emerging Asia (including China and India) appears de-linked from growth in developed countries. This, of course, doesn't imply that cyclical growth fluctuations in the developed world don't impact economic activity in emerging Asia. Nevertheless, the growth trajectories in China and India — the two largest economies of emerging Asia — do appear to be traversing fairly distinct courses. The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) forecasts for 2009 and 2010 indicate real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in China and India at 6.7 per cent and 8.0 per cent and 5.1 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively. The actual growth rates might turn out to be more robust than the predicted ones and more impressive than those witnessed in the rest of the world. The explanations behind the better growth performances primarily pertain to stronger economic frameworks coupled with endogenous sources of growth based on domestic consumption and investments as well as limited exposure to toxic assets of failed global banks and financial institutions and ample foreign exchange reserves.
