They have exploited their capacity for fast growth by •  efficiently mobilising their physical and human resources  •  adapting foreign technology and  •  utilising the opportunities for specialisation resulting from their integration into the world economy. As a consequence, they have roughly doubled their economic weight over the past 30 years.
Real convergence - as suggested by growth theory - seems to work if the right conditions are in place. At the same time, advanced economies, most notably west and east European countries, have lost significant market shares in world production. Slow population growth, modest gains in productivity and the breakdown of the former Communist planned economies have hampered their economic performance.