What Trump means for China

US economy can't boom without China

Cheng Shi is a researcher at the Beijing-based Pangoal Institution.

Donald Trump's unexpected victory over his rival Hillary Clinton in this year's US presidential election, once again, proves that so-called elitism and main-stream politics are somewhat out-dated. It is a foreseeable outcome following the rise of populism, isolationism, and protectionism worldwide and the declining global growth.

Despite the criticisms and controversies surrounding Trump, he is not the extremist that many media outlets have presented him as. An inclination to pragmatic governance may benefit the US economy in the long run.

The tight race caused instant turbulence in financial markets. The Mexican peso tumbled over 13 percent, its biggest drop in over two decades, and the US dollar dropped 3 percent against the yen and 2.1 percent against the euro, giving rise to concerns about the world's largest economy.

The truth is, the backbone of the US economy has been and will always be endogenous growth. It is unlikely to be replaced no matter who runs the country. The biggest economic challenge facing the country is the fact that the US Federal Reserve is being less prudent under the watch of its chair-woman Janet Yellen. As for the China-US economic ties, Trump's pragmatic nature may be both a challenge and an opportunity.