Think tank says China will be second most powerful country of the world by 2050

New Delhi, Oct. 26 (ANI): BEIJING - The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) has said in its Report on National Competitiveness of China that the country will emerge as the world's most powerful nation by the year 2050.

The CASS said the United States would continue to be the most powerful nation at point of time.

According to Xinhua, it also said that Beijing would strive to be among the top five most competitive countries of the Group of 20 nations by 2020.

Ni Pengfei, director of the Research Center for City and Competitiveness under the CASS, was quoted as saying: "We need to foster new growth areas in a bid to prevent unsustainable development caused by the extensive economic growth pattern."

The country has remained among the top five powerful nations with regard to economic growth since 1992 and is expected to overtake the United States to become the world's largest economy by 2030, the report said.

According to data for the first half of this year, China has eclipsed Japan to become the world's second-biggest economy after three decades of blistering growth.

China ranked 17th in national competitiveness among 100 countries in 2008, a jump of 56 places from its previous listing in 1990, the report said. (ANI)