China is economically ahead of India because of its better work culture, Defence Minister George Fernandes said on Saturday.

He called for efforts to make India the world's leading country by 2017.

"Our country is also faced with similar problems but due to our lack of discipline, poor work culture and corruption, the nation is ailing in all sectors," Fernandes said comparing the economic conditions of China and India.

Addressing a NCC cadets camp in Dibrugarh, Assam, the defence minister said, "China had only 61 holidays in a year and the country is ahead of us in economic growth only due to its work culture."

"During my last visit to China, I asked their prime minister about the problems faced by that country and he replied that there are 40 million unemployed youths, regional imbalances in industrial growth and peasants are getting poorer but their economic growth is moving up due to collective labour."

Referring to the northeast, the minister said the region had been and neglected since independence.