In fact, I have probably saved some readers the trouble of also opening a new tab and looking for this added context, by providing it directly within this thread.
China was the most populous country on earth for a very long time, that is common knowledge among educated people. It makes a difference in the story if they're struggling in an economy five times wealthier than India's.
That's why I looked it up. That's why some other people will look it up.
This is the population difference we're talking about:
I think OP wrote their country like this as a figure of speech and to state that they are one of many.