Baidu Planet: China Now Second Largest Economy in the World (Video, GDP Chart) *Surpasses Japan as #2*

● BAIDU PLANET ●

USA & China Leaders: President Barack Obama and Premier Wen Jiabao

China Now Second Largest Economy in World

"Surpasses Japan as #2*

Overview It's official, China has surpassed Japan to become the second largest economy in the world, behind the largest economy, the USA. This was after overtaking Germany as the third largest economy in 2007 and prior to that the U.K. and France. The China GDP grew 10.3% in 2010 per the National Bureau of Statistics of China. BBC Shanghai correspondent Chris Hogg describes Chinese economic growth, "This is an economy that has been powering ahead for three decades now." Japan's economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2010 to fall behind China's. Japan had been the world's second largest economy since 1968.

BBC News "China's Economy Is Now The World's Second Largest" China has formally overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy. The latest official figures from Tokyo show Japan's gross domestic product increased by just under four per cent in 2010, a far slower rate of growth than China's and not enough to keep its economy ahead. This marks the end of an era for Japan which has been the world's second biggest economy for more than forty years. The BBC's Shanghai correspondent, Chris Hogg, and Tokyo correspondent, Roland Buerk, discuss the impact of this announcement.

China GDP Estimated by OECD (Chart) There is controversy over the Chinese GDP data. First, how accurate is it? Second, attempting to convert to U.S. Dollars is questionable because of the control China exerts over their currency. The OECD estimates the Chinese GDP (output method) per the chart below in current U.S. Dollars and current purchasing power parity. The OECD calculates the GDP data from a National Accounts Questionnaire provided by the National Bureau of Statistics of China. 2010 data has not yet been compiled by the OECD. The OECD method will most likely report China at or near a $10 trillion dollar economy for 2010.

Commentary Despite the doubts over what the China GDP really is, the Chinese economy is one of the largest, if not second largest, in the world. As noted in the BBC video, China has leveraged the "economies of scale" and for lower-value product manufacturing is unbeatable. The Rise of China continues...

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