China’s friction with the West has led to retaliatory economic jabs in going both directions, yet for all the posturing and saber-rattling, trade between China and its Western partners is not easily replaced.

China’s record 1st quarter performance will accelerate momentum and support global economic prospects. But new trade wars could once again derail global recovery.

The strengthening of the economy also means growing attractiveness for global investors. During the first quarter of 2021, FDI inflows to China accelerated tremendously, and there are good opportunities for U.S. investors, with no chance to lose.

While the agreement would help combat some long-standing global problems, it would also curtail many countries’ competitiveness and undermine their tax sovereignty in the long run.

The OECD is projecting an uneven K-shaped economic recovery from the pandemic in 2021. Richer countries with more extensive vaccine rollouts that can afford to reopen and reflate their economies will do so. Poorer economies will struggle to stay healthy and avoid debt crises. But the mantra that “no one is safe until everyone is” highlights the need to spread health, wealth, and self-respect to all. An increasingly prosperous China can and should play a central role in this effort.

The post-pandemic era provides paths that, if followed, will catapult the country into first place globally by mid-century. It will open wider, increase cooperation with international partners and make even greater contributions to the world economy.

The period of transition amid centennial changes is full of risks and crises. Great changes call for great wisdom and initiative. The world needs to be reevaluated. The path forward needs to be reconsidered.

As the United States repeatedly weighs in to block reasonable reforms and interfere with long-standing, consensus-based processes, China is on another track. It knows that reforms are needed and is working constructively to realize them.

The People’s Bank of China is pressing forward with a digital yuan, which leaves China’s digital currency plans significantly ahead of western nations’. While the U.S dollar has dominated global trade since WWII, the yuan, whether digital or analog, will have a leading role in challenging the hegemony of the dollar.

Just as China led the world in economic recovery in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, it is playing a similar role today. Its post-COVID rebound is gathering momentum amid a developed world that remains on shaky ground. Unfortunately, this is a bitter pill for many to swallow – especially in the United States, where demonization of China has reached epic proportions.