The rise of China and India in the twenty-first century has attracted a great deal of international attention. Even in his recent State of the Union Address, President Bush of the United States specifically named India and China as the strong challengers to the American competitiveness in the world economy. Indeed, the two nations share many similarities, such as being giant developing countries with long glorious civilizations and colonial histories; but at the same time they have equally many differences, particularly on their completely different political, social and legal systems.

Despite the sharp discrepancies, the unsettled territory dispute and the recent international political uneasiness, the tide of globalization has more and more rung the two giants on the arena of international competition. The trade between China and India between 2000 and 2004 rose by more than 350 percent to record nearly US$14 billion and the governments' joint efforts are expected to push the trading volume to reach US$20 billion in 2008 and US$30 billion in 2010. The two countries have also agreed in 2006 to set up six joint task forces to explore the feasibility of a China–India Regional Trade Agreement. In the course of trade development, the concerns with the competition of the two countries have also been raised. For example, in the period of 1995–June 2005, India initiated 412 anti-dumping petitions, of which 81 were made against imports from China. Since 2000, China has also initiated at least two anti-dumping investigations against products from India.