CNN January 14 article, original title: China is winning the trade war, its exports have never been higher last year, the new coronavirus roiled the world, while the Chinese economy outperformed all other major economies. Now it looks like the country's relative steadiness is also giving it an edge in its trade war with the United States.

The world's second-largest economy ended 2020 with an overall trade surplus of $78 billion in December, according to customs data released on Tuesday. The full-year surplus hit a record $535 billion, up 27 percent from 2019. Meanwhile, exports also rose to a record high. Peter Kouis, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics, attributed China's gains mainly to its management of the epidemic. As people around the world work from home, China has benefited from a surge in demand for protective gear and electronics. "After China recovered from the epidemic, when the epidemic triggered a huge demand for anti-epidemic supplies in the United States (and other countries), China was open for business," he said. (Author LauraHe)

Article on the website of Russia's "Russia Today" TV station on January 15, original title: China has won the trade war with the United States, business trumps politics, China is now the cornerstone of the global economy

In the past few years, Trump has been attacking China with sanctions and tariffs, boasting that winning the trade war is "easy". However, he has failed to impose Washington's terms on trade relations with Beijing.

The latest figures show China's trade surplus hitting a record high. Driven in part by huge demand for medical equipment and electronics, China's surplus with the United States also rose 7.1 percent, widening the trade gap between the two countries to $316 billion in 2020. This comes as the Trump administration has spent much of its time waging a trade war with China and imposing tariffs on imports from the country, with the strategic goal of "redirecting" supply chains back to the US or to friendlier partners.

These moves did have an impact, and the United States fell from China's number one trading partner to number three, overtaken by Europe and ASEAN, but ultimately did not change Beijing's advantage over global commerce, or even the United States itself. Why not? Change is easier said than done. China's supply chain is more cost-competitive, resilient, interconnected and geared to local demand than anywhere else on Earth. Some countries touted as alternatives, such as India and Vietnam, are incapable of replicating these conditions in the short term.

First, China's vast size and large population create an abundant labor force, which, coupled with competitive infrastructure, makes manufacturing in China more affordable than anywhere else in the world. Second, China's market size and lower costs mean that there is a lot of demand in China, which makes it easier for companies to turn a profit. Moreover, as a result of these factors, China has long established itself as the center of global trade and commerce, and now its position is even stronger, with global demand making supply more affordable. This has long been a win-win situation for business.

India has 1.3 billion people and a cheaper labor force than China, but it does not have the capacity to replicate China's successful infrastructure or level of development in the short term, nor does it have the scale of China's consumer market.

Vietnam's economy is equivalent to China's in an earlier stage. Its labor is also cheaper than China's. For primary commodities, such as low-end plastics and textiles, it is more convenient for companies to invest there, because we have to take into account that as China grows, the types of manufacturing it excels in will also grow accordingly. But Vietnam is still a much smaller country than China and it is impossible to replicate its global-scale manufacturing and industrial capabilities.

In this case, it is not surprising that all the talk of "decoupling" and shifting supply chains away from China has not materialized. Beijing dominates the global supply chain not through some grand conspiracy to steal American jobs, but simply because what China has to offer is more competitive than everyone else, and big projects like the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Europe rail Link have only cemented that. Western manufacturers are also never going to pull their business out of China because the Chinese market is just too attractive.

So, the trade war has not fundamentally rewritten the model of Sino-American business relations. Despite the US tariffs, China remains a core part of the global supply chain because there is simply no viable competitor or alternative. Supply chains ultimately operate based on affordability, geography and convenience, not political preferences. (Writing by Tom Fuddy and translated by Qiao Heng)

Plastic Industry Video