For the first time, China’s production of goods and services has surpassed that of the United States, another sign that the nation is gaining economic strength.

Data released by the International Monetary Fund combined with analysis by MarketWatch author Brett Arends showed that China produced $17.6 trillion in goods and services while the U.S. produced $17.4 trillion in 2014.

“To put the numbers slightly differently, China now accounts for 16.5% of the global economy when measured in real purchasing-power terms, compared with 16.3% for the U.S,” Mr. Arends stated. “This latest economic earthquake follows the development last year when China surpassed the U.S. for the first time in terms of global trade.”

The Asian nation started to surpass the U.S. when its gross domestic product, a major factor that determines the wealth of a country, began to increase in 2006.

“China’s GDP increased at an average annual rate of 11.2 percent during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), and if the economy expands by 7.4 percent in 2014 and by 7.0 percent in 2015, as has been widely estimated, the average annual GDP growth will reach 7.8 percent during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, according to data from China Development Bank…” the Chinese English-language paper Global Times reported.

The U.S., however, still maintains a higher level of GDP per person. Currently, the average amount per person in China is $9,800, which is in contrast to $52,800 in the U.S.