Statistical understatement

If the 1993 estimates of gross domestic product from the International Monetary Fund, known as purchasing power parity, are used instead of the traditional measurements used by the World Bank, India's per capita GDP jumps from $330 to $1,150 and China's from $370 to $1,600. The former understatement was useful as a lever that enabled those who wanted to assist China out of socialism, and also be an economic counterweight to Japan in Asia, become one of the top borrowers from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.