Here are some quick stats on China’s global leadership:

• #1 in Exports
• #1 in Manufacturing
• #1 in Foreign Exchange Reserves (>$3 trillion)
• #1 holder of US debt (>$1 trillion)
• #1 Trade Partner for 130 countries
• #1 in PPP GDP
• #1 in container traffic (40%)
• #1 in contribution to global GDP growth (35%)
• #1 in Middle Class population (350 million)
• #1 in poverty elimination (800 million lifted out of extreme poverty)
• #1 in construction (between 2012 and 2015, China used more cement than the US had used in the entire 20th century)
• #1 Retail Market in the world by 2019 ($5.6 trillion)
• #1 in luxury goods sales (35% of global market)
• #1 luxury car market (2x USA)
• #1 in international tourism spending (2x USA)

And it continues …

• #1 in Smartphones (Chinese brands have 40% of the global market)
• #1 in 4G mobile network (1.2 billion users)
• #1 in Solar Power, Wind Power and Hydroelectric power
• #1 in Electric Cars (EV, PHEV)
• #1 in Steel, Cement production (52%)
• #1 in Manufacturing of Conventional cars (>26 million per year)
• #1 in Consumer Drones (70%)
• #1 in Skyscrapers
• #1 in High-Speed Railways (30,000 Km or 18,000 miles)
• #1 in Supercomputers
• #1 in Science/Engineering (STEM) College Graduates
• #1 in Mobile Payments (50x larger than the US)

And it’s right behind the US in many areas:

• #2 in Nominal GDP ($13.5 trillion in 2018)
• #2 in Billionaires
• #2 in Millionaires
• #2 stock market, by market cap
• #2 Importer
• #2 in International Patents (#1 if China is included)
• #2 in R&D Spending (#1 if measured by purchasing power)
• #2 in Unicorns (startup companies worth more than $1 billion)
• #2 in VC Funding (was #1 in the first half of 2018)
• #2 in Artificial Intelligence (#1 in some areas of AI)
• #2 in number of satellites in orbit/space (280 satellites as of 2018)

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