Amid global conflict-disruption cycle, China’s reliability has enduring economic appeal in World Economy News 05/05/2026 Disruption has become the name of the game for the world economy in the 2020s. The COVID pandemic, Russia-Ukraine conflict, Gaza war, Trump tariffs and now the Middle East conflict, have highlighted the flipside of globalization, which is that physical separation from a crisis is no longer a buffer from its economic fallout. Whether it be lockdowns, supply shocks, financial contagion, mobility bottlenecks, or erratic foreign policies, the butterfly effect is likely to be felt in multiple forms far from the epicenter. Interestingly, the man who rewrote and popularized globalization for the 21st century, The World Is Flat author Thomas Friedman, had drawn a direct correlation between conflict and supply chains. The Dell theory of conflict prevention precludes conflict between countries that are part of the same global supply chain. Whether or not the theory has held true to any degree is debatable (because economic theorists routinely underestimate politics) but the underlying logic is undeniable: Conflicts between two countries invariably impacts supply chains they’re involved in or in the vicinity of. Which is why the US-Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz disruption have caused several unintended consequences. Without naming any specific locations, areas beyond the periphery of the conflict have witnessed small business closures, sporting events played in front of empty stadiums, higher food prices due to fertilizer price rise, cancellations of flights and financial SOSs from airlines, etc. Even in the US, where the Middle East conflict is at least 7.5 time zones away, the price of fuel has gone up significantly as a result, touching the lives of all Americans. And yet, there are places with large economies where there appears to be minimal-to-zero on-ground impact of this fallout. The last week in China witnessed the 19th edition of the Beijing I