AN EXPENDITURE-BASED BILATERAL COMPARISON OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BETWEEN CHINA AND THE UNITED-STATES

This paper presents a detailed bilateral comparison of GDP between China and the U.S. with 1986 as a reference date, using the purchasing power parity (PPP) approach formulated by the United Nations International Comparison Program (ICP). An estimate of PPP over GDP made for Chinese currency in this study was used to estimate China's dollar per capita GDP in 1986 and 1991. The specific issues in the comparisons of the housing and the comparison-resistant services categories were discussed and an approach similar to the estimation of shadow rent was exercised. The possible errors in the bilateral comparison were analyzed.