中国已然进入21世纪全球三大经济体之列,与美国和欧盟并驾齐驱。随着中国在未来至少20年间持续较快增长,逐步向世界最大的经济体挺进,其相对影响力无疑将继续显著提升。然而从历史的角度看,中国是一个独特的经济超级大国,至少体现在三个方面。就平均生活水平而言,中国仍是一个穷国。尽管中国正在成为世界第一大经济体,其富裕程度仍将远低于经合组织国家。中国未实施完全市场化,因此政府在经济生活中的作用远大于其他经济大国。但这一差距已有所缩小、并有可能在未来几年、几十年不断减小, China is already in the top three global economies in the 21st century, keeping pace with the United States and the EU. As China continues its rapid growth for at least 20 years in the future and gradually advances to the world’s largest economy, its relative influence will undoubtedly continue to increase notably. However, from a historical perspective, China is a unique economic superpower at least in three aspects. As far as living standards are concerned, China is still a poor country. Although China is becoming the world’s largest economy, its prosperity will still be far below that of OECD countries. Since China is not fully marketized, its role in economic life is far greater than that of other large economic powers. However, this gap has narrowed down and it is probable that declines will continue in the next few years and decades.