Twenty Years of Reversal: China's and Japan's Strengths from "Looking Up" to "Looking Down"

Twenty years of time are enough to rewrite a nation’s destiny. Opening the comparison between Chinese and Japanese economies, those set of numbers tell the story of an era’s vicissitudes.

In 2000, Japan’s GDP reached 4.97 trillion USD, ranking second in the world, while China was only 1.21 trillion USD, a gap as wide as a chasm. At that time, “Made in Japan” enjoyed global fame, with Tokyo’s neon lights shining on Asia’s economic future, while China was still at the starting line of industrialization, striving to catch up.

By 2023, the situation has been completely reversed—China’s GDP surged to 17.7 trillion USD, while Japan remained at 4.23 trillion USD. The former fourfold gap has now become a lead of 4.2 times for China, nearly five times the size. More strikingly, Japan is not only falling behind China but also facing the embarrassment of being surpassed by Germany and slipping to the fourth place globally. This is not just a numerical reversal but a disruptive rewriting of the development trajectories of the two countries.

The Tech Battlefield: From Following to Leading in Comprehensive Upgrading

Economic scale determines the foundation, but technological strength is the true core of competitiveness. Over twenty years, the competition between China and Japan in the tech field has evolved from “equal footing” to “comprehensive surpassing.”

In aerospace, China’s manned spaceflight and lunar exploration projects are steadily advancing, with Chang’e lunar landings and Tianzhou supply missions becoming routine. Meanwhile, Japan’s space exploration has always been constrained by the U.S. deep space communication network, limiting its autonomous capabilities.

In aircraft manufacturing, China’s heavyweights like the C919 large passenger aircraft and the Y-20 large transport aircraft have been successively launched, breaking Western monopoly patterns. The shipbuilding industry is even more a source of pride—China’s shipbuilding completion volume, new orders, and backlog have ranked first globally for consecutive years, holding a dominant position in high-end sectors like large LNG carriers and ultra-large container ships.

The most direct change is seen in the new energy vehicle sector. In 2023, China’s new energy vehicle production and sales accounted for over 60% of the global total, with exports surpassing Japan to become the world’s largest. From BYD to Tesla’s factories in China, from NIO to Li Auto, Chinese brands are reshaping the global automotive industry landscape. In key fields such as chip design, 5G communication, and new energy materials, China also continues to report good news.

R&D Investment: The Source of Innovation Has Shifted Eastward

Behind technological surpassing is continuous increased investment in R&D. China has achieved dual surpassing in total R&D expenditure and its proportion.

In 2022, China’s basic research funding reached 195.1 billion yuan, doubling over five years, with the total scale far exceeding Japan. More noteworthy is the quality and efficiency of investment—according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China’s PCT international patent applications have ranked first globally for many years, more than doubling Japan’s application volume. This indicates that the “brain” of innovation is operating at high speed in the East.

Infrastructure and Livelihood: Development Gaps Seen from Utility Poles

If economic and technological strength are quantitative indicators of national power, then infrastructure is a concrete reflection of quality of life. In this comparison between China and Japan, some of the most interesting and striking details emerge.

China’s “infrastructure maniac” spirit has been fully unleashed in urban construction. Underground cabling has become standard in city planning—by 2025, core areas of cities at prefecture level and above are required to achieve 85% cable undergrounding, with Beijing’s core area reaching 100%. Walking through Beijing’s streets, the tidy and refreshing city skyline has long become the norm.

In contrast, Tokyo’s situation is quite the opposite. Japan still has 36 million utility poles standing, with 70,000 added each year. The underground cabling rate in Tokyo’s core area is only 8%, with dense wires crisscrossing the sky, becoming a “persistent disease” of the cityscape. This is not just an aesthetic issue but also reflects the profit-driven orientation of private power companies and the imbalance with public interests.

An Era Parable of Twenty Years

From looking up to looking down, this reversal in China-Japan relations is just a microcosm of the reshaping of global power patterns over twenty years. China has written a miracle of development through practical efforts, exchanging investment for surpassing. This story continues, and it has only just begun.