Debate rages on whether China has overtaken Japan in GDP

China remains a developing country with a large number of poor people and low per capita GDP, the statistics chief said yesterday while releasing economic growth figures for last year which suggest the nation is poised to overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy.

The gross domestic product rose by 8.7 percent year-on-year to reach 33.54 trillion yuan ($4.91 trillion) in 2009, with fourth quarter growth accelerating to 10.7 percent from 9.1 percent in the third quarter, which analysts said indicates an entrenched recovery.