Looking at change

Sharma also says with recent moves like the Belt and Road Initiative, the government has tackled the problem that the country's west is not in a "geographic sweetspot" as a result of being landlocked.

"With the whole Silk Road project, China has made use of its geography. China has really been very good about opening up its borders compared to other countries in the region such as India."

Sharma, who grew up in India but moved to the United States in 2002 and has built a career as an influential commentator, says some of the rhetoric that has come out of Trump Towers about China does not stand up to scrutiny, particularly in regard to it being a "currency manipulator".

"Anyone who knows the world knows that the Chinese currency is basically overvalued and not undervalued," he says.

Sharma says China is a country he has been "completely in awe of" particularly since it became the workshop of the world in the 1990s.

He argues in the book that by putting "factories first" China and Asia have managed to build a strong manufacturing base, which countries, for example, in Latin America have failed to do. He also does not believe, as some argue for Africa, that an economy can easily move from agriculture to services in one fell swoop.

Although it sounds theoretically fine, evidence of it has been missing so far, he says.

"So, for now, I would say factories first."

He believes it is unrealistic to expect China to be the continual growth engine of the world economy without ever meeting a setback.

"In the last 100 years, the United States suffered from a dozen recessions and a great depression and has still managed to be the premier economy in the world. It is perfectly reasonable to expect that China will have downturns. That's just the laws of economic nature."

Sharma contends he likes to write for people who have to make economic decisions about their lives today.

"I wish I could have a client to whom I could say, 'Hey, come and check out my performance in 20 years from now'－It just doesn't work like that," Sharma says.

Contact the writer at andrewmoody@chinadaily.com.cn