Economic ranking means less for public

The ongoing 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China provides a key opportunity for the public to predict China's future.

Among the various measures, the economy is the easiest to quantify.

A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that China's economy has exceeded the eurozone's this year for purchasing power. China is also projected to overtake the US as the world's largest economy as early as 2016.

Are such predictions accurate? It is difficult to know for sure. But as it is widely believed that China's political and economic policies will not change after the congress and that China's economy will keep growing, it is only a matter of time before China becomes the world's largest economy.

But this ultimately does not matter. China's global economic ranking is less important than China's domestic policies. We cannot see any concrete benefit brought by this top position. It's hard to say whether it would bring more pride or trouble for China.

Criticizing a GDP-centric attitude has become popular as civil affairs cannot be measured in terms of GDP.

Development is an absolute need of this country, but it is not the only priority. China should maintain its sustainable development for the next 10 years. However, the key factor at play here is not exactly when China will surpass the US to become the world's largest economy.

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