Old age (Score 1)

One thing people here are also forgetting about China is that due to their draconian policies to reduce population growth (while an admirable goal) has led to a country that is quite old. In fact, the Economist recently reported that for every four grandparents, there are two parents and one child in China. This has led to quite an imbalance in the size of the workforce relative to the population. One child now has to help take care of a larger number of relatives on a per capita income that hasn't increased to match such a change. I forget the exact statistics (it was in the Economist from last month and I cannot find the article now) but the average age in China was something like 28 in 1990, rising to 33 in 1995. And looking to the future, the proportion of those over 60 will rise from something like 10 per cent of the population in 1995 to 22 per cent in 2030.

Now, besides the obvious problems like the massive reduction in the young workforce over the next couple of decades, many of you have pointed out that healthcare in China is quite archaic and is not equipped to handle (when couple with all its current problems) something like this. IMHO. While India's healthcare system is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, it will not be hit by the problems of a large swath/percentage of its population turning old all at once. I think this will give rise to a semblance of stability.