China Passes Japan as Second-Largest Economy

[Astroboy]

SHANGHAI — After three decades of spectacular growth, China passed Japan in the second quarter to become the world's second-largest economy behind the United States, according to government figures released early Monday.

China Passes Japan as Second-Largest Economy (Published 2010)

Just five years ago, China's gross domestic product was about $2.3 trillion, about half of Japan's. But now surpassed. Plus considering their population, there must be more room for expansion. Plus, if China's RMB float and soar to 2-times or more, Chinese GDP will reach the level of US economy.

Either way, good for world economy, including Japan.

 

[hsakakibara1]

China's GDP

Lets face it, China is going to own this world in the future. That is why it is so important for Japan to be even more Asian-focused than before. The US is the past, China (and in the distant future, India) is the future.

Chinese are very goal-oriented. They are also very frugal for the most part and hardworking. They already own many businesses in the US. Ethnically they control the economies of Southeast Asia. Increasingly they will control Japan and if allowed to even India.

 

[Tokugawa Ieyasu]

It's really a hollow statistical delusion. China is still so poor-most people here are poverty-stricken peasants migrating to the big cities each year to find work in construction or sweat shops in Guangdong.

I don't see how it is comparable to Japan's high-tech based economy. It does help the media sell papers, though

 

[Astroboy]

It's really a hollow statistical delusion. China is still so poor-most people here are poverty-stricken peasants migrating to the big cities each year to find work in construction or sweat shops in Guangdong.

I don't see how it is comparable to Japan's high-tech based economy. It does help the media sell papers, though

But when I go to Ginza street last week, I found the street was full of tourists from China !

Chinese tourists flock to Japan, boost economy
Forget siteseeing-ostentatiously wealthy Chinese go to Japan for shopping
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Snapping up four Japanese luxury Seiko watches as if they were cheap chocolate souvenirs, a 36-year-old Chinese tourist plunks down $4,500 in cash at a glitzy store in downtown Tokyo.

Rich Chinese are welcome ! You are the second largest economy !

 

[Tokugawa Ieyasu]

Lets face it, China is going to own this world in the future. That is why it is so important for Japan to be even more Asian-focused than before. The US is the past, China (and in the distant future, India) is the future.
Chinese are very goal-oriented. They are also very frugal for the most part and hardworking. They already own many businesses in the US. Ethnically they control the economies of Southeast Asia. Increasingly they will control Japan and if allowed to even India.

While I felt the same way about China until I moved here a while ago.

The reality on the ground here is so different from what you read in the papers.

 

[hsakakibara1]

I Agree

While I felt the same way about China until I moved here a while ago.
The reality on the ground here is so different from what you read in the papers.

I have been to China more than once and I agree 100%. But that is true for all countries, including Japan and the US. I live in America and I see first-hand the **** that goes on, the poverty, etc. yet when I read the press things "are not that bad."

Truth is, China (and India) are up-and-coming powerhouses and they will ultimately rule the earth. I am reconciled to this fact. In America I would say that a disproprotionate nubmer of students in the graudate science fields are all from China and India, many foreign students who nowadays refuse to settle here. America is going to see a veyr big brain drain in the near future.

 

[Pachipro]

The reality on the ground here is so different from what you read in the papers.

It's really a hollow statistical delusion. China is still so poor-most people here are poverty-stricken peasants migrating to the big cities each year to find work in construction or sweat shops in Guangdong.

I don't see how it is comparable to Japan's high-tech based economy. It does help the media sell papers, though

Just five years ago, China's gross domestic product was about $2.3 trillion, about half of Japan's. But now surpassed. Plus considering their population, there must be more room for expansion.

The entire western business community is lauding the fact that China has surpassed Japan in GDP, but I, as well as forum members here, don't see what the big deal is, especially when you take the population of China into account.

Here's an interesting and fair article from a Chinese News site titled "China Still Behind Japan Economically" In effect the author is saying, "So what if we passed them in GDP?" and writes that although there is much potential for China, they still have a long, long way to go before they can ever hope to match Japan.

by Zhang Ming

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- According to newly released data by the Japanese government, Japan's nominal gross domestic Product (GDP) was worth $1.286 trillion in the second quarter, compared with $1.335 trillion for China, indicating that China will certainly overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy this year.

This news sparked worldwide attention, with overseas media, especially, clamoring for China to take a more central role on the world stage as its economy expands.

Well, how should we rationally treat the phenomenon?

Analysts who are against using GDP as the primary indicator of a country's overall strength prefer the concept of per capita GDP. According to the International Monetary Fund, China's GDP per capita in 2009 was only $3,566, significantly lower than that of Japan ($39,573). China only ranked 99th worldwide in terms of per capita GDP.

.....Japan has entered an aging society, but before that they got rich. Though Japan experienced the bursting of the real estate bubble, it was at a time when the nation's per capita GDP had reached $20,000.

So, if China cannot rein in its monetary policy in the future, the nation's looming assets bubble might collapse when per capita GDP is at about $4,000 to $5,000. If the bubble bursts and leads to recession, we have to face the challenge of "aging before getting rich".....

 

[hsakakibara1]

I was just on Skyscraper City.com
!!!Shanghai, biggest skyline of the world!!!

All the pics of Shanghai make New York City look like a tired old fishing village.

Yes, China has a long way to go but don't underestimate the Chinese people. They are VERY DETERMINED to make up for lost ground and I have very faith they will do it. I was in China 10 years back and there was NOTHING even remotely comparable to what you see today. The development is now expanding throughout the whole country, and not just in the eastern part of the nation.

That is why most Japanese firms are more interested in investing in China and other parts of Asia than in the US and Europe. We are investing in their and our future by doing so. The payoff will be handsome.