President Xi Jinping appears to be on a mission to fill the economic vacuum being created by US protectionism, and global investors are watching closely, says the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial and asset management organizations.
Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, believes that as Donald Trump focuses on economic nationalism, China is accelerating long-term investment into the Global South—signaling what could become one of “the decade’s most powerful investment megatrends.”
Xi’s visits this week to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia—three countries all recently hit by punitive US tariffs—underline Beijing’s intentions: to deepen strategic, industrial, and financial ties across Asia and the Global South and set the pace for the next era of global growth.
“The contrast couldn’t be sharper,” says Green. “While the US turns inward, raising walls and weaponising trade, China is looking 10 to 20 years ahead, actively forging partnerships, investing in critical infrastructure, and backing new technologies across the Global South. It’s bold, it’s calculated, and it’s already paying dividends.”
The Global South—shorthand for emerging markets across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and parts of Oceania—is increasingly central to the global economy.
“These countries represent the bulk of future population growth, rising consumer demand, and enormous industrial potential. While the West drifts toward fragmentation, this bloc is becoming more attractive by the day to investors who understand the structural shifts underway.
“Smart capital is going where the long-term growth is—into economies that are open to partnerships, investment, and supply chain integration,” Green continues. “China has understood this for years. But now, under Trump’s revived trade war rhetoric, the trend is intensifying.”
In 2024, China was already Vietnam’s third-largest source of foreign investment, behind Singapore and South Korea. It is also Cambodia’s largest investor and among the top three in Malaysia. These are not isolated cases—they’re part of a broader, strategic pattern.
Xi’s message in Vietnam this week made it explicit: China wants to work with these nations on everything from industrial supply chains to green development, AI, and 5G.
In an article for Vietnam’s official party newspaper, Xi warned that “trade wars and tariff wars will produce no winner” and reiterated Beijing’s support for an open, cooperative global trading system. He also called for stronger ties with Vietnam and deeper collaboration across emerging sectors. Importantly, he positioned China as a partner to the Global South more broadly, working “to uphold the common interests of developing countries.”
This pitch is falling on increasingly receptive ears. Vietnam, despite facing a 46% US tariff (temporarily paused for 90 days by Trump), remains a manufacturing powerhouse and key link in regional supply chains. Malaysia and Cambodia, too, are benefiting from China’s pivot and the West’s decoupling from Chinese industry.
“The irony is striking,” says Green. “Trump’s tariffs, designed to isolate China, are effectively pushing it closer to the very economies that stand to lead global growth over the coming decades. And these are precisely the markets investors should be watching.”
deVere analysts expect an acceleration in capital flows, trade deals, and joint ventures between China and Global South countries—not only in Asia, but increasingly in Africa and Latin America. The geopolitical realignment is already having implications for asset allocation, supply chain positioning, and emerging market equities.
“As China steps up, and the US steps back, the Global South is rising. Investors need to be aligned with that reality. Those who aren’t already thinking in these terms are behind,” concludes Nigel Green.
deVere Group is one of the world’s largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients. It has a network of offices around the world, more than 80,000 clients, and $14bn under advisement
