Service Sector Growth in China and India: A Comparison

China and India have recently achieved spectacular economic growth. However, services in these two Asian giants have played a very different role. In India, the service sector contributes to more than 54 per cent of GDP while its GDP share in China is much smaller (below 41 per cent in 2004). To provide an explanation for the contrasting trajectories, this paper examines and compares service sector developments in these two Asian giants. It investigates the determinants of demand for services and sheds light on the outlook for service sector growth in the two countries.