Do you believe economic numbers coming out of China?

If yes, the dragon nation has just displaced Japan to become the world's second largest economy. The 2009 GDP numbers for China are likely to be US$ 4.75 trillion. This will be around 3% higher than Japan's GDP.

So, what has helped China outpace Japan in the GDP race? Call it the former's abundant natural resources and low cost manufacturing for all items ranging from toys to airplanes.

China is now eyeing the top spot that is currently occupied by the US. But our calculations show that it will take around 20 years for it to catch up with the latter. This is when Chinese economy continues to grow at 8% per year while the US manages a mere 2% annual GDP growth.

Data: CIA Factbook

And where does India stand in this race? If our economy were to grow by around 7.5% consistently for the next 20 years, we will just reach where China is today! So there's a long-long way to go.