Likely we still are but you have to divide GDP by the population for it to mean anything. If you simply use pure size then China is the worlds wealthiest country according to some sources.

What wouod be interesting would be to know what percentage of Chinese children can speak English. Because the figure often quoted of how many Chinese children are learning the piano sounds amazing but as a percentage of the population it looks more normal.
Nick

Many different bodies use different types of data to produce statistical models and whilst GDP per Capita is a very important statistic, it can only be used to compare countries with similar types of economies.

Let's say for example that the GDP was the same for 2 countries but in one of them the average working week was 40 hours but the other was 60 hours, which is the most efficient?

In a many Chinese factories there are a lot of "migrant workers" who come in from the agricultural regions and live on site in dormitories. They work long hours and usually only go home to their villages twice a year. It can be a real problem after Chinese new year for example because a proportion of the workers don't come back again.

I've seen the working conditions and Health and Safety standards in a number of Chinese factories and believe me, you would not want to work or live there.

You simply cannot compare this type of economy to a typical European style economy.

I mention Tiananmen Square simply to point out that it's much easier to achieve ones economic goals when the State dictates that the 5 year plan is more important than the individual rights of the population.

China has made big strides in recent years and I am a great admirer of their single mindedness but you simply cannot compare China and the UK in pure statistical terms. China is now into it's 13th 5 year plan and I have no doubt that it will become the Worlds number 1 economy and that it will move forward for example on Human Rights and Global Ecology. But make no mistake, the 5 year plans will always come first.

You say the the Kids you watched speaking English were in Hong Kong.

Firstly, remember that Hong Kong was a British Colony up to 1997 and English was almost like a second Mother tongue to a large proportion of the population.

Secondly, Hong Kong is still a hub of world economic trade where English is the main language so if you want to get on in that society you have to be fluent and many of the parents would have been fluent English speakers because of their business backgrounds.

I don't disagree with you that as a Nation we must up our game to compete going forward but we should also stop talking down our achievements.