BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhuanet) --The Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC) Yi Gang recently mentioned that China had overtaken Japan to become the world's second largest economy. Some UK researchers believe that at current GDP growth rates, China will overtake the U.S. to be the world's top economy within nine years. The forecasts sparked heated debate worldwide. Some people think the figures are faked and do not take the forecasts seriously; others agree that, sooner or later, China will become the world's biggest economic power.
The accuracy of China's GDP figures need not concern us much. Given the rate of economic growth over the past 30 years and the current exchange rate of yuan, the national figures for GDP are quite believable. Some provinces may exaggerate the figures, but on the other hand in some developed areas the figures may be understated. This makes the final figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) more or less accurate.
What concerns me most is that, although China's overall GDP is high, its per-capita GDP lags far behind the west. China's per-capita GDP is around US$3,800, less than one tenth that of Japan or the U.S., and less than one sixth that of France and the UK. Even among developing countries, China occupies only a mid-to-low-ranking position.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Don't overestimate China's economy
Author: Yi Xianrong
