雅思阅读材料：China is the world's second largest economy_雅思英语阅读

雅思阅读材料：China is the world's second largest economy

　　China has become the worlds second largest economy, with Japan surrendering its 42-year-old ranking after its economy shrank in the final months of 2010.

　　Chinas rise was unavoidable given the difference in population, said Naomasa Mitsuishi, a 45-year-old salaryman in Tokyos Shimbashi district. I have no strong feelings about China surpassing Japan, because Japan has little room left for GDP growth compared to China, which is booming.

　　China has claimed since as early as 2008 that it either was, or was imminently poised to become, the worlds second-largest economy.

　　Until now, Japanese economists have patriotically refuted the Chinese figures. However, weak consumer spending and a strong yen saw Japans gross domestic product fall by an annualised rate of 1.1pc in the final quarter.

　　That allowed China to pull ahead with a GDP total of $5.88 trillion for 2010, on a non-adjusted nominal dollar basis, compared to $5.47 trillion for Japan.

　　By comparison, the United States recorded GDP of $14 trillion in 2009, but experts have predicted that after sweeping past Germany, France, the UK and now Japan, China will catch up with the US by as early as 2030.

　　Similar predictions were made for Japans prospects during the 1980s. However, after more than a decade, being overtaken by China reflects Japans declining political and economic power.