However: China and India import a considerable volume of goods from other, in particular, Asian countries and record only small current account deficits. What obviously differentiates India and China from other Asian emerging economies, but also from Brazil and Russia, is their sheer size. Both countries combine a population of roughly 2½ billion, representing more than a third of the world’s population.
The global economy is therefore confronted with an adjustment process of a special type and magnitude that is significantly larger than those witnessed in the past. The growing range of goods and services from China and India, produced and  BIS Review 26/2004  1  supplied at low cost, will lead to significant changes in global production patterns, trade and relative prices.