It's about accountability. Where the bureaucrats do not feel accountable to the public, this undermines the sense of responsibility. In China and other communist or totalitarian countries, such as many countries in the Middle East, the bureaucrats are part of the ruling political class. They feel no particular responsibility to the people at all and therefore there is no tradition of public service.
I suspect this is also partly the case in India, with it's system of political patronage, but I'm not as familiar with it as China or the Middle East.
Actually though, high degrees of automation make bribery hard. You cant bribe a computer program.
On a side note Yes, Train reservation system is much better now compare to what it was back in 1990s. There is no room left of corruption. I guess India need a strong leader which is not in for profit and he/she may do such small deed which will help India evolve out of current state