I highly doubt that China will 'eclipse' the US in the near future. One must remember that GDP isn't the end all of economic status. There is much more to it like Juan pointed out. However, the ever present trend that is growing is that as more developing economies such as China, India, etc enter the global market, the gap between the US and the rest of world is decreasing. It is merely a reallocation of resources. The less the US govt tries to fight this, the easier the transition will be.