China is the “engine of stability and demand” that has led to global trade being surprisingly resilient despite US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, said the boss of the world’s second-largest container shipping line.

Vincent Clerc, chief executive of AP M?ller-Maersk, told the Financial Times that the Danish group was lifting its financial guidance to the top end of its range due to the strength of consumer demand and confidence that any durable upending of existing supply chains would take decades.

“The resilience of consumer demand has been a surprise, and we see that the strength of China by just the level of innovation and the products that they’re bringing to market [and] is fuelling a lot of that demand. There’s no doubt that China is the engine of the stability and demand that we’re seeing today,” he added.