According to the 2007 World Competitiveness Yearbook, the Chinese mainland has jumped to 15th place from 18th last year, outranking Taiwan, as the island slipped one spot to 18th place.

The Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) released the ratings on May 8, ranking 55 major world economies.

The IMD based its ratings on four indexes including economic performance, business efficiency, government efficiency, and infrastructure. Chinese mainland succeeded thanks to its strong economic performance, and improvements in government efficiency and infrastructure.

The report indicated that although Taiwan made improvements in government efficiency and economic performance, the island's business efficiency and basic infrastructure were reasons for Taiwan's fall in the ratings.

Experts say the conversion is a predictable result of the mainland's economic surge. A May 3 report by the Nanfang Daily quoted Huang Huahua, Governor of South China's Guangdong Province that the gross domestic product of Guangdong was slated to surpass that of Taiwan by next year.

Chinese mainland's rankings show a consecutive jump in the past few years. In 2005, it was at 31th place.

The United States remains the world's most competitive economy, with Singapore in second place, and Hong Kong dropping one spot to third.