Per capita GDP predicted to soar by 2030

China's per capita GDP will reach the 1990 level of Western Europe and Japan of around $18,000 by 2030, an economist said yesterday.

Pioneering British economist Angus Maddison also predicts the country could be reinstated as the world's biggest economy by 2015 after losing the top rank two centuries ago, in his book, Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run, launched in Beijing yesterday.

But Chinese economists are reserved when it comes to the predictions. Some said it would be impossible for China to overtake the United States by 2015 and that Maddison has overestimated the country's economic strength. Others insisted factors such as education, healthcare and human resources should be taken into consideration when ranking economies.