Japan confirms China surpassed its economy in 2010
TOKYO. February 14. KAZINFORM Japan confirmed Monday that China's economy surpassed its own as the world's second largest in 2010 and said a late-year downturn was Japan's first quarterly contraction in more than a year; Kazinform refers to China Daily.
Japan's real GDP expanded 3.9 percent in the calendar year in the first annual growth in three years, but it wasn't enough to hold off a surging China. Japan's nominal GDP last year came to $5.4742 trillion, less than China's total of $5.8786 trillion, the Cabinet Office said.
Gross domestic product shrunk at an annualized rate of 1.1 percent in the October-December quarter, a sharp reversal from a revised 3.3 percent expansion in the third quarter, the government said.
A slowdown in exports and weaker consumer demand at home led to the unsurprising downturn, which is expected to be temporary. The result was better than Kyodo news agency's average market forecast of an annualized 2.2 percent decline.
China was acknowledged last year as having grown to the world's second-largest economy, but the Japanese data confirming it were not available until Monday. The switch underscores the nations' stark contrasts: China is growing rapidly and driving the global economy, while Japan is struggling with persistent deflation, an aging population and ballooning public debt.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has pledged to revive the economy and make major reforms in the country's tax and social welfare systems.
His approval ratings are eroding quickly, however, as voters question his government's ability to lead the country through its pressing problems; Kazinform cites China Daily.
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