![Steven Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross, Robert Lighthizer and Peter Navarro in the White House before President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on steel imports, Washington, March 8, 2018 (Photo by Oliver Contreras for Sipa via AP Images).](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/l_us-china-mnuchin-ross-lighthizer-navarro-08212018-1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
In just four decades, China has become a major global economic power. In recent years, it has surpassed Germany as the world’s largest exporter of merchandise. It is the world’s second-largest source of foreign investment, and third-largest recipient. Using an exchange rate that takes into account the lower cost of living in China, it has surpassed the United States to become the world’s largest economy, though still a much poorer one. And under its “Made in China 2025” industrial plan, the government wants to become an innovation hub and move up the manufacturing value chain to become largely self-sufficient in […]