One of the world's manufacturing giants took a step forward in its standing among global economic powers as the most robust economy last year took an unsurprising fall.

China advanced one spot this year to the 29th most competitive economy despite the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression through the 1930s, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum said yesterday.

The Unites States, however, was knocked from the top spot by Switzerland as the most competitive economy, according to the forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010.