The share of goods traded across the border in both India and China has fallen by 5.6 percentage points. This decline does not reflect trade disputes or hint at an impending slowdown. Instead, it reflects healthy economic development in China, India and the rest of emerging Asia. More goods are consumed domestically than exported. As consumption rises, more of what gets made in these countries is now sold locally instead of being exported to the west. Over the decade from 2007 to 2017, China almost tripled its production of labor intensive goods. At the same time, the share of gross output China exports has decreased from 15.5 per cent to 8.3 per cent. As wages rose in China, and the country moved into higher-value activities, its share of global exports of labor-intensive goods declined by three percentage points. India has similarly been exporting a smaller share of its output over time.

In 1997, Asia accounted for only 36 per cent of the 5,000 largest global firms but by 2017, that share was up to 43 per cent. The countries represented in this group also drastically changed. China accounts for the biggest increase by far. The number of Indian firms in the top 5,000 global firms list has shot up to 142 from 25 during 1995-97.