2010-08-17 15:07

Japan's lower-than-expected growth in the second quarter has definitely pointed to the imminent prospect of China overtaking Japan as the world's second-largest economy at the end of this year.

The latest statistics show that Japan's economy was valued at about $1.28 trillion April-June, slightly below China's $1.33 trillion for the same period.

It should come as little surprise that the Chinese economy, which has been growing about 10 percent a year for more than three decades, has climbed further up the world economic league tables while other large economies are struggling to recover from the recent global financial crisis. And the increasing clout of a fast-growing major economy is certainly a boost to the world economy, which is still trying to find a solid footing after the worst global financial crisis in more than half a century.

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But the international community should refrain from expecting too much from a developing economy that is still relatively poor per capita.

On the one hand, China has already become a major driver of global growth. Accounting for about one-third the size of the US economy - the world largest - China has not only replaced the US as the world's largest auto market, it has also passed Germany to become the world's biggest exporter last year.

On the other hand, as the world most populous nation, China's per capita income is merely about one tenths those of the other biggest economies, ranking about 100th in the world.

The good news is that such a low standard of living means that the Chinese economy still has a lot more room to grow and can contribute even more to the global recovery.

But for those who expect China to assume greater international responsibilities just because of the size of its economy, they should take a hard look at the enormous development challenges that the country still faces in coming years.