Many economists have long suspected that official government statistics were a slighter shadow of reality.
With China’s announcement on Monday that its economy was far bigger than previously estimated, economists and financial prognosticators are scrambling to rethink their assessment of China’s rise and its role on the world stage.
China’s new figures suggest that it has likely passed France, Italy and Britain to become the world’s fourth-largest economy this year.
Now, some economists are even accelerating their timetables for when China might eclipse the United States as the world’s biggest economy. With the new economic figures, some experts said China could overtake the United States in 2035, instead of 2040.