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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