What happenned to all the Hype About Chinas Economy?

[Iris]

China will replace USA as top economy?
China will make the Western World ireelivent?
80% of the world will speak Chinese/
Chinese will replace English as the main language?the new Map of the WOrld wil ahve China int he Centre?

When will any of these ever happen?

[Neil]

China is still set to become the biggest economy within 5 years.

No part of the World is Irrelevant, so that's not gonna happen, the West might lose their leading-role though, because we're so busy 'protecting our progress' that we're forgetting to actually keep progressing(essential for any economy).

80% of the World Speaking Chinese is an over-statement, there are a LOT of Westerners learning Chinese to be able to work in China though, so there is a boom in Chinese-speaking business-men, and women.

So a part of your questions are over-stated, but the fundamentals are happening, or happening shortly.

[Soar]

China will eventually replace USA as the top economy in the world, but that is not a surprise because in the 1800s, China's GDP was at least 30% of the world's total GDP - higher than the EU + USA combined (Kissinger). Remember, China's economy FAR surpassed the world for the majority of history!

Is there a part of the world that is irrelevant today? No. No part of the world will ever be irrelevant.

Granted, Mandarin Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world. But to say 4/5 of the world will speak Chinese? Not likely.

Some of your questions are hyped up by fear-mongers - the same ones that claim international trade is not beneficial. The (peaceful) rise of China will not be a zero-sum game.

Remember: all first world nations today did all the things that China is going through today (think USA, Britain....). Their rise will be mirrored by increasing regulation in safety and higher environmental standards.

[Victor]

There are many parts to this question and the answer.

First, much of it is media-hype. It is mainly about selling newspapers and journals, and making big headlines on the TV. Certainly, that's true about the Chinese language and such like. The same was said about Japanese in the 1970s and many European schools started to offer Japanese language to students "...in preparation for the emergence of a new culture and economic force." It is rubbish.

Second, the GDP of China will exceed that of USA in the next few years: say within 10 years.
That isn't surprising: with a population of 1.4 billion national production, expenditure and consumption will always be massive. But Chinese economic performance would need to exceed that of USA by 7-times if it were going to create a new economic force in the world.
Why, because the GDP-per-head in China is about US$9500 per year. For USA, the GDP-per-head is about US$51000 per year. The people and industries of China operate at about one-fifth in terms of wealth,consumption and expenditure. China is a developing country; still basically poor.

Next, China is undergoing major social and political upheaval, although the Communist dictatorship denies the fact. At some time in the future, the Chinese people will rise up and overthrow their "leaders." Such an unstable country can never become a world leader until it settles down.

Finally, all empires fail and collapse. The same will be true of the American Empire; not this year or next, but sometime. The last 70 years have shown that USA can thrive and prosper but only through waging constant war. The USA has been at war constantly since December 1941.
The world will eventually repudiate the "American way of life" and death and so might the American people.
At that time, maybe the next world-leading economy may be the Chinese; but to be honest, I don't think it will.

In the meantime, don't worry about the Chinese economy. There are more pressing problems that are real and not just media-hype.

[Anjaree]

And Chinese in Soho will go back home eventually.

[K_X]

So the answer is: the hype has become a reality... that's what happened.

Further:
China will replace USA as top economy? ------------ Yes, at some point probably in two decades.
China will make the Western World ireelivent? ---------- No, Western world and rest of it as well will be relevant
80% of the world will speak Chinese/ ------------------- No, probably 80% of Chinese will speak English.
Chinese will replace English as the main language?the new Map of the WOrld wil ahve China int he Centre? ------------------------------ No, you need to read better books/news/magazines

When will any of these ever happen?