China surpasses US to become world’s largest economy

The US is no longer the world’s largest economy, as China has overtaken the country, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.

China now sits atop the world’s economic perch, according to the IMF, which released the latest numbers for world economies by measuring purchasing power parity (PPP).

By the end of 2014, China’s economic output will amount to $17.6 trillion, and the US will be demoted to the second place with a mere $17.4 trillion of output.

The Financial Times also said China’s growth means it now accounts for 16.5% of the global economy in real purchasing power terms, compared to the 16.3% for the US.

The US was the world’s largest economy since 1872, when it overtook Britain.

The IMF projected in early October that China’s economy will be 20 percent bigger than that of the US by 2019.

China remains the biggest foreign holder of US government debt, holding an estimated $1.27 trillion in US Treasury bonds.

Earlier this year, China and Russia agreed to a measure to undercut the domination of the US dollar as the international reserve currency by paying each other in domestic currencies.