China is confirmed to have overtaken Japan as the world's second-largest economy, trailing only the United States.

According to data released yesterday by the Japanese Cabinet Office, Japan's nominal gross domestic product for the second quarter totaled US$1.288 trillion, less than China's US$1.337 trillion.

Despite the milestone, Chinese officials said the nation still remains a developing country, with a per-capita gross domestic product that lags far below that of advanced nations.

According to the World Bank, China's per-capita GDP was a bit more than US$3,600 in 2009, ranking 124th worldwide. Japan's per-capita GDP, in contrast, amounted to over US$39,000.

Japan remained a bigger economy than China in the first half of 2010. China's economy expanded 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 17.28 trillion yuan (US$2.55 trillion) in the first six months, compared with Japan's US$2.57 trillion.

However, the dynamics of development indicate that Japan is unlikely to retain its position as the world's second-biggest economy for the full year.

The second-quarter figures showed that Japan was in an L-shaped recession, plagued by domestic price deflation, shrinking internal demand and an export-killing appreciation in the value of the yen. Its GDP edged up only 0.4 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter, far below the prediction of a 0.6 percent increase.

China overtake的过去式">overtook the US last year as the biggest automotive market and Germany as the largest exporter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc predicted China may overtake the US to become the world's largest economy by 2027.

Analysts forecast it will be not until 2050 that China's per-capita GDP reaches the 2009 level of the per-capita GDP of developed countries.

"Becoming the No. 2 in the world is a milestone earned after decades of hard work by the Chinese people," said Yi Gang, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, in July. "But it is important to ask ourselves what it really means to become the world's No. 2 economy."

Yi urged people to maintainperspective, because China's per-capita GDP is still far behind that of many other countries. He said China should beware of the pressure imposed by certain media and politicians.

Ma Jiantang, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, also pointed to China's weak economic foundation.

"China has a large population, relatively few resources and many people remain extremely poor," Ma said. "Therefore, while we take note of our expanding size of economy and enhancing economic strength, we should also have a sober understanding that China remains a developing nation."

• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• cabinet [´kæbinit] n.橱，柜；内阁 (初中英语单词)
• domestic [də´mestik] a.家庭的；本国的 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• advanced [əd´vɑ:nst] a.先进的；高级的 (初中英语单词)
• contrast [´kɔntrɑ:st] n.对比 v.使对比(照) (初中英语单词)
• retain [ri´tein] vt.保持；保留；留住 (初中英语单词)
• administration [əd,minis´treiʃən] n.管理(事务等)；经营 (初中英语单词)
• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
• bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中英语单词)
• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
• foundation [faun´deiʃən] n.建立；基金；地基 (初中英语单词)
• extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)
• internal [in´tə:nl] a.内部的；国内的 (高中英语单词)
• appreciation [ə,pri:ʃi´eiʃən] n.评价；感激 (高中英语单词)
• overtake [,əuvə´teik] vt.追上；赶上 (高中英语单词)
• beware [bi´weə] v.(用于祈使句)谨防 (高中英语单词)
• relatively [´relətivli] ad.比较地；相对地 (高中英语单词)
• prediction [pri´dikʃən] n.预告；(气象等)预报 (英语四级单词)
• overtook [,əuvə´tuk] overtake的过去式 (英语四级单词)
• statistics [stə´tistiks] n.统计学；统计 (英语四级单词)
• unlikely [ʌn´laikli] a.不像的；未必可能的 (英语六级单词)
• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st] vt.&n.预测；预报 (英语六级单词)
• perspective [pə´spektiv] n.望远镜 a.透视的 (英语六级单词)