US China War: Beijing Would Beat Trump In Trade, State Media Says

China would beat the U.S. in a trade war of tariffs as proposed by President-elect Donald Trump because it does not depend exceedingly on exports to fuel the nation's GDP growth, according to Beijing trade officials and economic advisers quoted in the state-run newspaper People's Daily.

The officials stated that China had shifted the focus of its economy, second only to the U.S. in size, from exports to the country's large domestic market and anticipated a rise in what the nation considered hostile tactics targeting its trade industry. Trump has accused China of currency manipulation and exploiting its cheap domestic labor to take jobs away from the U.S. He has publicly considered imposing tariffs as high as 45 percent on Chinese good after taking office, something that has angered Beijing in the past.

In this latest message, however, government-affiliated trade and economic figures rebuffed the threat of Trump's punitive measures. Li Guanghuim, vice-president of the trade ministry's Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said Beijing had anticipated a rise in "protectionism" and "trade frictions" and Zhang Yansheng, chief economist at the government think tank China Center for International Economic Development, said "China must fare well" under Trump's proposed policy.

Domestic consumption now makes up two-thirds of the nation's GDP growth in 2015.

"China has reduced its reliance on exports for growth to a great extent, thanks to its prompt shift to domestic demand when global market demand was no longer in high growth in the past few years," Zhang said.

China's relationship with the U.S. has been a subject of numerous op-ed's and surveys in state media as Trump prepares to take office in Washington later this month. The billionaire Republican businessman-turned-politician has chosen some prominent conservative critics of China, such as Peter Navarro and Robert Lighthizer, for economic and trade positions in his incoming administration.