Blue Stone Asset Management on US-China trade war, economic outlook

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Duo Yuan, founder and chairman of Blue Stone Asset Management, speaks with CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng the East Tech West conference in Nansha, Guangzhou.

Relations between China and the U.S. have the potential derail global economic growth, but the ongoing tariff fight is a political matter between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said a major Chinese private equity fund company.

Despite trade tensions between the two economic giants, there are plenty of reasons for them to work together in the longer term, said Duo Yuan, founder and chairman of Blue Stone Asset Management.

“Chinese and American people all want a good outcome. For the Chinese, we also hope that we can buy cheap U.S. products, have good American companies to cooperate with and learn new things from them. From the U.S. perspective, investing in China will bring good returns,“ Duo said on Wednesday at the East Tech West conference in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China.

“So, there are mutual benefits in working together,” said Duo, whose conversation in Chinese was translated by CNBC.

Duo is a veteran in the Chinese financial sector. He had a hand in founding the investment trading business at China International Capital Corporation, a leading Chinese investment bank, and Bank of China’s fixed income business. His current firm, Blue Stone Asset Management, is one of the largest private equity fund companies in China, with assets under management in tens of billions yuan (billions of U.S. dollars).

The U.S. and China — the two largest economies in the world — have had a difficult relationship this year, with both countries imposing tariffs on the other’s products. Trump and Xi are expected to discuss trade at the G-20 summit this week, and many have said they hope the meeting will help to calm tensions.

“The development on U.S.-China relations is something that everyone is watching very closely. But on a long term perspective, the U.S. and China will likely be on the same path,” Duo said.