CHINA ended Japan's 42-year reign as the world's second-largest economy in 2010 as confirmed by Japan's newly -released GDP figure.

Japan's gross domestic product fell 1.1 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter of 2010, the first contraction in five quarters, the Japanese Cabinet Office said today.

It concluded Japanese economic output at US$5.47 trillion in 2010, compared with China's US$6.03 trillion.

China claimed the title as the world's second-largest economy after the United States last August when its GDP in the first eight months surpassed that of Japan.

With a stable growth momentum and an advancing rate of 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter, China consolidated its position, ending the year with an annual GDP growth of 10.3 percent from 2009.

But China remained a developing country as Commerce Minister Chen Deming stressed last month in Davos, Switzerland.

According to the World Bank, China's GDP per capita was US$3,744 in 2009, ranking 86th worldwide. In contrast, Japan's GDP per capita was US$39,727, more than 10 times that of China.