The Economist put together a comprehensive dateline, charting which year China overtook or will overtake the U.S., using 21 indicators of consumption, GDP or spending.
It summarizes the significant milestones reached over the last decade or so, reminding us how far China has come. One significant milestone marking the road of economic growth began when China became the largest consumer of steel, then shortly after, copper and energy, as the government focused on its massive buildout of infrastructure projects to support expected urbanization growth and rising incomes.
By 2001, China was buying more mobile phones than the U.S. as Chinese consumers spent rising discretionary income on the latest technology. Spending in mobile computing has also continued, as China also has the largest number of Internet users, the biggest personal-computer market and the largest smartphone market.
Looking into the next decade, The Economist also plots an estimation of when Chinaâs GDP will be larger than that of the U.S. Using the assumptions of an average real GDP growth of 7.75 percent in China and 2.5 percent in America, inflation averaging 4 percent and 1.5 percent in China and the U.S., respectively, and yuan appreciation of 3 percent per year, China stands to be the largest economy by 2018.
However, if China grows faster with all the other factors remaining the same, the countryâs GDP could be larger than the U.S.âs GDP by 2017. The magazine lets you change these assumptions for yourself so you can see when China will be the worldâs largest economy. Go there now.
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