Depending on what report you read, you’ll find either China or India being projected as outdoing the other in their race toward becoming global economic superpowers.

One such recent report, this time by Deloitte Consulting, cheers for China, especially in the area of the outsourcing of financial services. It also raises questions around India’s future standing in this area. It argues that a third of global financial institutes already have back-offices in China (in 2006, 75 percent of such  institutions had operations in offshore locations).

Moreover, China’s increasing focus on its educational system, with nearly 200 million Chinese people learning the English language, will result in the country competing with India in the next three years.

In contrast, India has only 10 percent to 15 percent college grads considered suitable for the offshoring industry, which may result in a shortfall of up to half a million skilled workers by 2010.

The “India camp,” however, disagrees. “India is focusing heavily on cultivating greater numbers of experienced people, especially in Tier-3 cities. The country is focused on keeping its pipeline of talent full,” says Graham Pascoe, Outsourcing Expert and Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers. “India will continue to be the primary location [for financial services] for years to come while over the next few years, China will continue to be a dominant force in IT and manufacturing outsourcing.”

Though China will continue to give tough competition to India, where both wages and attrition are on the rise, “India due to its vast talent pool will be preferred over China because of its tough labor and IP laws, even in the near future,” an economist told Global Services.

Chinese firms, of course, disagree. “The quality of education in China is very high, and the country is aggresively investing in its educational system,” says Frank Yu, COO, Augmentum, a Chinese IT firm.