Donald Trump, US president, asserts that “protection will lead to great prosperity and strength”. In contrast, President Xi Jinping of China insists that “we must promote trade and investment, liberalisation and facilitation through opening up — and say no to protectionism”. So what might this contrast of views mean for the future of the trade on which Asia’s dynamism has been built?

This question is of global significance. Today, the Asian region — east, south-east and south Asia — contains the world’s most dynamic economies, including the two rising giants, China and (albeit well behind it) India. The International Monetary Fund has forecast that the share of Asian emerging economies in world output (at purchasing power parity) will grow from a mere 9 per cent of the total in 1980 to 38 per cent in 2021, only fractionally smaller than that of the advanced countries.

The US commitment to liberal trade has provided the environment within which Asia has prospered. In all cases of rapid economic growth in this region, the expansion of trade has played a decisive role, via exploitation of comparative advantage, economies of scale, access to know-how and heightened competition.