In this Oct. 21, 2008 file photo the city skyline is seen from the Shanghai World Financial Center in Shanghai, China, Tuesday Oct. 21, 2008. In the foreground is the Jinmao Tower, and at center the Oriental Pearl TV tower. China issued revised data for 2007 on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, that showed its economy has surpassed Germany to become the world's third-largest behind the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Greg Baker, File)From Yahoo News/AP:
BEIJING – China's economy grew to 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 puts it behind only Japan and the United States.
China has grown tenfold in the past 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.
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