China consumes most, report says

It is now the world's biggest consumer of grain, meat, coal and steel. Only in oil does the US consume more.

China is well ahead of the US in the consumption of goods such as television sets, refrigerators and mobile phones.

The Washington-based Earth Policy Institute says that China is now an emerging economic superpower.

However, per capita consumption in China, the world's most populous country, remains far below that of the US.

According to the report:


64m tons of meat were consumed in China in 2004 compared to 38m tons in the US

258m tons of steel were used in China in 2003 compared to 104m in the US

China's factories and homes burned 40% more coal than in the US

The number of PCs in China is doubling every 28 months.
'Writing history'

The latest official figures for the Chinese economy, the sixth-largest in the world, show that it is growing even faster than expected.

It expanded by 9.5% in 2004, its highest rate for eight years, the figures show.

"China's eclipse of the United States as a consumer nation should be seen as another milestone along the path of its evolution as a world economic leader," Lester Brown, the institute's president said.

"China is no longer just a developing country," he said. "It is an emerging economic superpower, one that is writing economic history".

The report said China's massive appetite for goods ranging from grain to platinum had placed it "at the centre of the world raw materials economy."

"Its voracious appetite for materials was driving up not only commodity prices but ocean shipping rates as well," it said.