Commentary: Repeat after me – never, ever underestimate China

HONG KONG: From United States President Donald Trump’s trade war to AI developments, 2025 has been full of dramatic twists and turns. One of the most consequential takeaways is to never, ever underestimate China. At the onset of the year, the world’s second-largest economy was left for dead. Economists were predicting lost decades akin to what Japan experienced in the 1990s, and its dominance of manufacturing was being challenged by Trump’s second term and the drive by exporters to diversify their supply chains and move operations abroad. Global investors had largely fled, seeing that the country’s 3D problems – deflation,…