Washington-based Earth Policy Institute says that China’s consumption of grain, wheat, coal and steel surpassed that of the US in 2004. Oil consumption, however, remains the highest in the US.<p>The Institute says that China is no longer a developing country but an emerging economic superpower. China, with its population of 1.3 billion people, is well ahead of the US in the usage of television sets, mobile phones and refrigerators, the survey revealed. "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.<p>Among leading consumer products, China trails the United States only in automobiles, and it is only a matter of time before the Asian nation emerges as the largest user of personal computers, the report says. China’s economy expanded by 9.5% in 2004, at the highest rate in the past eight years. [Via Agenda Inc]