China"s timely and supportive policy measures will reinforce its connection to global supply chains, said an economist from Thomson Reuters.

China has been playing a huge role in driving global economic growth given its sheer size, population and geographic reach.

Its involvement in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative will generate more benefits in the areas of environment, sustainability and governance standards, paving the way for future growth, said Zoe Martinez, global trade lead for Asia and Emerging Markets at Thomson Reuters, a provider of business information services.

According to its recently released Global Trade Report, which surveyed 200 senior executives from multinational organizations across Asia, about 59 percent China-based executives said that they met their trade targets in 2020, and 88 percent are confident they will achieve their targets this year.

China was able to reestablish supply lines relatively quickly last year, and many foreign companies utilized supply chain diversification as part of a revamped trade strategy. About 70 percent of the survey"s respondents in China have adopted this approach.

"Many China-based businesses entered new markets and as a result were able to extend their reach," Martinez said. "Having tools to support this agility boosted their resilience amid what has been a particularly turbulent global trading environment since the onset of the pandemic."

All these situations show that the feared economic decoupling of the world from China is unlikely, as Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks Corp plans to expand its store numbers to 6,000 across China by 2022, and Swiss conglomerate ABB Group will start operations at a $150 million robotics factory in Shanghai in the first quarter of next year.