China Replaced Japan in 2010 as No. 2 Economy

By HIROKO TABUCHI

The latest numbers are just a reinforcement of China’s rapid ascent as an economic superpower, as China surpassed Japan last summer after the half-year gross domestic product numbers were released. Just five years ago, China’s gross domestic product was around $2.3 trillion, about half Japan’s.
Japan’s economy has stagnated over the last two decades, reflecting its continued decline in economic and political clout.
The country had the world’s second-largest economy after the United States for much of the last four decades. In the 1980s, its rapid growth even led to talk of the Japanese economy overtaking that of the United States.
But while Japan’s economy is now mature and its population quickly aging, China is in the throes of urbanization and industrialization. Still, China’s per-capita income is about $3,600, less than one-tenth that of the United States or Japan.
Japan’s economy, however, stands to benefit from a fast-growing China. Last month, the Japanese government said that its economy could soon rebound, as exports and factory output are helped by strong demand from China and other emerging economies in Asia.
The outlook has lowered expectations that the Bank of Japan, which is starting a two-day policy meeting on Monday, will take any imminent measures to ease monetary policy.