With tit-for-tat tariffs escalating the US-China trade war to never-before-seen levels in the past week, their high-stakes game of one-upmanship could turn into a marathon that tests the long-term resilience of economic and industrial systems, according to prominent Chinese economists.

They also suggested a stronger dose of government stimulus to unleash domestic demand, noting that doing so will be of the utmost importance to China in navigating these turbulent times.

“What China and the US are competing for now is economic resilience,” said Zheng Yongnian, dean of the School of Public Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shenzhen campus (CUHK-Shenzhen).

“Our goal should be to build an industrial system with strong economic resilience; only in this way can we secure a dominant position in the long-term competition with the US,” he was quoted as saying by Xiakedao, a social media account run by overseas-edition staff from party mouthpiece People’s Daily, on Wednesday.

After the series of back-and-forth tariff salvoes, as it stands, Washington has imposed a 125 per cent tariff on Chinese imports, while Beijing’s new levy on US goods has risen to 84 per cent, both effective now.