In 1979, China and India had similar size populations and similar economic conditions (total impoverishment).

Forty-three years later, China's economy is 5.6X larger by purchasing power parity and 2.6X larger by nominal GDP. Why is this? What's the difference between China and India?

China has an authoritarian government based on "deliberative democracy" whereas India has a Western-style democracy. India's government is rather dysfunctional while China's government is most effective.