Why China dominates

Amongst various other factors, a key reason why China is dominating recently is that they've had just one party in power for a long time.

This allows them to plan and execute projects & policies over a long time frame, without having to worry about another political party upending their vision in the next elections

Infra projects like the high speed rail system, their supremacy in manufacturing are all possible because a lot of it was willed into existence from the top down

This is unlike in India where the main worry of every politician is the next elections. So they're forced to think short term and put their own self interest above the country's interest. That's why we see freebies, handouts, broken bridges, terrible infra, 1000cr statues, appeasement politics, cash in judges homes, so on.

Most of india's accomplishments in the last couple decades happened in a bottoms up manner. The people made India progress despite the political landscape, not because of it.

Back to China, having a single party in power for decades alone isn't a sufficient condition for progress ofc. So it's that the CCP seem to have gotten some key decisions right w.r.t optimising for the long term well being of China. Some recent examples:

• chinese govt introducing ai into the curriculum in schools.
• prioritizing EV / Solar power via subsidies.
• their recent focus on self reliance in semiconductors.

Fwiw same thing played out in Singapore. Lee Kuan yew's party has been in power for decades now.

Having grown up in Singapore, I've first hand witnessed how policies from the government can culturally affect you. We were bombarded with signs for no littering, no spitting, no drugs, no jaywalking, to speak and write good english, treating other religions with respect, etc.