CHINA is expected to become the world's most competitive country only after the United States by 2050, a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed today.

Although China leapfrogged to overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy this year, it ranked far behind many developed countries in terms of overall competitiveness, the report said.

The 2010 Report on National Competitiveness of China, the first of its kind published in the country, said China was listed 17th based on 2008 data from public sources, including the World Bank. China ranked 73th in 1990.

Despite of its big progress, China still lags far behind the US, the European Union and Japan. The ranking is mainly based on strength in five categories: scale of economy, productivity, economic structure, potentials, and innovation capabilities.