China is allegedly preparing for trade spats with the US after President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, Bloomberg reported, adding that Beijing may intensify scrutiny over US companies operating in the Chinese market in case Trump decides to take any actions against China's businesses.
“The report suggested that China might target well-known US firms for higher tax or antitrust investigations, launch anti-dumping probes into US products, and cut back government purchases of US goods,” Chinese newspaper People’s Daily reported.
However, there has been no official confirmation of such claims from the Chinese government so far. On the other hand, the Chinese government's recent policies and statements suggest a further opening up the domestic market to foreign capital.
Despite that, there are experts in China who are advising to be prepared for any backlash by the US when Trump comes into office.
Huang Yiping, a renowned Chinese economist, suggested that given Trump's tough stance on China and his protectionist trade policy rhetoric, China should consider the potential fallout if Trump imposes higher tariffs on Chinese goods.
If Trump targets Chinese goods for higher tariffs, it would certainly have a negative impact on trade, but “it is still too early to tell if Trump will deliver on his campaign promises,” Huang, a member of the monetary policy committee of China's central bank said during an event in New York, according to ifeng.com.
Earlier, a columnist Curtis Stone for People’s Daily wrote that despite his tough talk, Trump admires China for its GDP growth and for its infrastructure investment and engineering.
“He sees that, while America is aging and falling behind in certain areas, China is growing and moving forward. The US can learn from China on infrastructure building, and benefit from its successes,” Stone wrote.
He also suggested that America may be the contemporary example of building a great country, but China is the contemporary example of rebuilding a great country.
One example of such great engineering achievement is China’s Beipan River Bridge, which connects Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. It is a 4,400-feet-long cable-stayed suspension bridge that hangs 1,854 feet in the sky. That is equivalent to 200 stories; roughly the height of four Trump Towers stacked.
“The two massive bridges in Guizhou are a tiny example of China’s strength in infrastructure investment and engineering. No other country in the world has lifted more than double the size of America’s entire population out of poverty in such a short period of time,” according to the columnist.
Then there are other achievements of China such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Modern day China is a country which can teach many a lesson so rather than bashing China, perhaps America should learn from and work with China, Stone noted.
In his statements Trump has suggested that he wants to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure upgrades in America to rebuild the nation and put people back to work. However, the problem is how to pay for it and how to do it.
China, on the other hand, knows how to fund and carry out serious infrastructure building, so one way for Trump to realize his plan would be to use Chinese funds and technology.
“This would help return some of America’s investment in China back to America for the benefit of America and strengthen the bilateral relationship. Trump’s plan to rebuild America is bold, but it remains to be seen if he will be bold enough to do what is best for America,” the columnist concluded.
This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.