China's economy is now the world's second largest

China has formally overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy.

The latest official figures from Tokyo show Japan's gross domestic product increased by just under four per cent in 2010, a far slower rate of growth than China's and not enough to keep its economy ahead.

This marks the end of an era for Japan which has been the world's second biggest economy for more than forty years.

The BBC's Shanghai correspondent, Chris Hogg, and Tokyo correspondent, Roland Buerk, discuss the impact of this announcement.