China Economy Zooms by Japan to No. 2 Spot

Nation's now gearing up to take on No. 1 US
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 14, 2011 1:40 AM CST
China Economy Surges Past Japan to No. 2
This photo taken on February 10, 2011 shows predestrians walking along a street following the year's first snowfall overnight in Beijing. The Chinese capital had faced its longest wait for winter snowfall in 60 years as wide swathes of northern China suffers through its worst spell of drought since...   (Getty Images)

China has steamed past Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. Japan's economy, hit by a drop in exports and consumer demand, was worth $5.5 trillion at the end of last year, while China's was estimated at $5.8 trillion. China is expected to take over the US as the No. 1 economy in about a decade, reports the BBC. Japan officials played down the news. "As an economy, we are not competing for rankings but working to improve citizens' lives," said the nation's economics minister. (More Japan stories.)

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