Monday marked the end of an era for Japan. The curtain officially fell on its place as the world’s second largest economy, losing that rank to China. But as Asia watchers digest the shift in power and influence, Chinese students in Japan say China’s rise up the GDP ladder is neither a triumphant moment for China nor a woeful one for Japan.

“Even though (Japan) is No. 3 and was overtaken by China, I still think GDP is not a goal. GDP is just a tool for economic development,” said Xie Zhi Hai, a 28-year-old doctoral student at Waseda University in Tokyo. “The real measure is whether people enjoy a comfortable life, and in Japan I can feel that.”

Mr. Xie, who is earning a doctorate from Beijing University and Waseda University, points out that China’s per capita gross domestic product is still just one-tenth of Japan’s.

The new figures confirm what many people around the world already knew. Yes, China is booming. Its cities are big and modern and its political muscle is growing fast. But it also has gaping troubles that GDP doesn’t measure–rural poverty, pollution, stifled civil liberties and a lack of basic infrastructure in many areas that the most developed countries would take for granted.

Neither should the switch in positions give Japan an inferiority complex, says Li Yan Ming, a Chinese graduate student in Tokyo.