CHINA’S big military parade in October led many to ask if it’s gearing up to upend America’s sole superpower status. Being a superpower has many axes: economic, military, scientific, political and soft power. How do China’s muscles compare with America’s on them? Also, the superpower contest is unlike a body building one, where one displays muscles without using them. A superpower must use its muscles to not only keep its status but also run the global order. Is China ready to lead or create a bipolar world soon?

China contributes 27 per cent of global industrial output against 17pc by the US and is far more productive. The US is ahead in high-end areas like aerospace. But China may close that gap soon. The economy has another key sub-axis: finance and other services. There, the US contributes over 30pc of global output against China’s 15pc. The gap in finance is bigger with the US dollar denominating over 50pc of global trade, foreign reserves and currency flows against less than 5pc in China’s yuan. The finance and information sectors are more critical as they control industry too. National per capita incomes too rise faster when high-end services expand. In factories, only a few managers have high wages. But in high-end service firms, most........

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