Even though economists expected that the Chinese manufacturing sector would contract in July 2013, it did exactly the opposite: The sector is now growing faster than it was in June 2013.

The official Chinese manufacturing PMI, or Purchasing Managers’ Index, jumped to 50.3 in July 2013 from 50.1 in June 2013, beating expectations of a decline to 49.8 by a wide mark. A PMI number below 50 indicates that manufacturing is contracting, and a number above 50 indicates that manufacturing is growing.

China’s economy is heavily dependent on manufacturing and exports; its citizens consume only a fraction of all the goods made in the country, and the rest are exported to the U.S., Europe and other markets.

In fact, China makes so much stuff that if it suddenly decided to stop, most of the rest of the world would experience impossibly high demand for many "essentials" of modern life -- things like air conditioners, cell phones and personal computers.

Here’s an overview of 10 things that China makes more of than any other country in the world:

china manufacturing-01
Things China makes more of than any other country in the world. IBTimes/Lisa Mahapatra
RELATED STORIES
China Manufacturing