From Heritage Foundation website:
Despite breathless media reports about the World Bank revising downward its estimate for the size of China’s economy, what the figures really show is that China has indeed overtaken the United States in manufacturing output. As an industrial giant, China needs to be taken seriously as an international economic force and a strategic and military power.
The World Bank’s Figures
China’s new status is not surprising. China has been the world’s leading producer of steel, copper, aluminum, cement, and coal for several years. As a consumer, China surpassed Japan as the globe’s second largest importer of petroleum in 2005. In 2006, China surpassed Japan as the world’s No. 2 auto market, with total sales of 7.2 million vehicles and production of 7.3 million. In 2007, China also became the world’s top producer of merchant ships. In short, one needs no number-juggling from the World Bank to know that China is an economic superpower. [Full Text]
John J. Tkacik, Jr., is Senior Research Fellow in China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Policy in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation.
