China overtakes Japan as world's second-biggest economy

China has overtaken Japan as the world's second-biggest economy. Japan's economy was worth $5.474 trillion at the end of 2010, figures from Tokyo have shown. China's economy was closer to $5.8 trillion in the same period. Japan has been hit by a drop in exports and consumer demand, while China has enjoyed a manufacturing boom. At its current rate of growth, analysts see China replacing the US as the world's top economy in about a decade. "It's realistic to say that within 10 years China will be roughly the same size as the US economy," said Tom Miller of GK Dragonomics, a Beijing-based economic consultancy. The US economy is currently almost three times the size of the Chinese economy in dollar terms. The UK's economy is estimated to be the world's sixth largest.