Chinese economy grew to world’s 3rd largest in 2007

BEIJING —  China’s economy grew to become the world’s third-largest in 2007, new data showed Wednesday, another milestone in the country’s stunning ascent in the global pecking order that put it behind only Japan and the United States.

China has grown tenfold in the last 30 years, and the revised data leapfrogged it ahead of Germany. But overtaking the United States is another matter.

“I think it will take only three to four years for China to overtake Japan as the second-largest economy in the world,” said Merrill Lynch economist Ting Lu. Catching up with the United States could take decades, he added.

The status is symbolic -- China’s 1.3 billion people are, on average, among the world’s poorest. But it reflects the country’s explosive growth as it transformed itself from a long-isolated nation to the factory for much of the world.

The government revised its estimate of 2007 growth from an already high 11.9% to 13%, the fastest rate since 1994. The national statistics bureau did not explain the factors behind the revision.

The new estimate raised gross domestic product to 25.7 trillion yuan, or $3.5 trillion at 2007 exchange rates, the statistics bureau said. That would be ahead of Germany’s 2007 GDP of 2.4 trillion euros, or $3.3 trillion at an exchange rate produced by averaging rates on the 15th of each month during that year.