JAPAN AS No. 3

JAPAN'S ECONOMY SLIPS TO NO. 3, WITH FURTHER DECLINE POSSIBLE

The Mainichi Daily News, February 15, 2011

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's loss of its long-held spot as the world's second-biggest economy to China has been accepted philosophically in political and financial circles, as many say it had been expected, while there are others who regard it as a harbinger of further decline.

It became official on Monday that China has become the world's No. 2 economy after the United States in terms of gross domestic product, as the Japanese government released its growth data for 2010 after the announcement by Beijing last month.

"A leap in the Chinese economy is a welcome occurrence for Japan as a neighboring country," Kaoru Yosano, Japan's economic and fiscal policy minister, told a press conference after the Cabinet Office said the nation's nominal GDP came to $5,474.2 billion last year, short of China's $5,878.6 billion.

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