China Rising
China has the world's largest population and is bound to become the world's largest economy before long. Growing at an average of 10 percent per year since 1990, it is quickly moving up the ladder of the world's biggest economies. Which national economy is currently closest in size to that of China?
 (Frederic J. Brown/ AFP/ Getty Images) |
A. Japan B. Russia C. Canada D. United Kingdom
A. Japan is not correct.
Japan has the world's second-largest economy with a gross domestic product of $4.5 trillion (at current prices).
Japan's GDP is still more than twice as large as China's, and Japan will have an economy larger than China's $2.2 trillion for some time to come.
However, according to projections by
B. Russia is not correct.
In 1993, Russia's GDP of $435 billion was comparable in size to China's $441 billion. Today, Russia's economy is much smaller due in part to the severe economic crisis that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
At $764 billion in 2005, Russia's economy is now only about 35 percent as large as China's. Currently, Russia's economy is about as large as that of Mexico.
C. Canada is not correct.
Canada, which has a population one-fortieth the size of China's, has an economy that is about half as large as China's.
By comparison, India's population of 1.1 billion is four-fifths the size of China, while it is far smaller economically.
With a GDP of $785 billion, the Indian economy is just one-third as large as that of the Chinese and in line with Russia's and that of Mexico.
D. United Kingdom is correct.
According to the World Bank's latest calculations, China became the world's fourth-largest economy in 2005 overtaking Britain's GDP that year by $94 million .
Germany with a GDP of $2.8 trillion is still the world's third-largest economy. However, according to Goldman Sachs, China is expected to surpass Germany in 2007.
By the year 2041, China is further expected to become the world's largest economy, surpassing the United States.
The Globalist Quiz is produced by The Globalist, a Washington-based research organization that promotes awareness of world affairs. © 2006 by The Globalist, theglobalist.com. 
