Trump's victory has caused widespread jitters throughout Asia

Most observers now view the TPP as dead in the water. Hillary Clinton disavowed herself of the deal during her campaign, in an attempt to appease concerns within the US business community, and the TPP has struggled to gain traction during exhaustive negotiations even with the staunchest of US allies such as Japan.

Nevertheless, the end of the TPP should not be viewed as the death knell of US economic engagement in the Asia Pacific. For its part, Beijing is deeply concerned over "de-globalisation", part of a global trend of economic retrenchment. China over the past decade has been a major proponent of free trade, working hard to strike deals bilaterally and in multilateral bodies, fuelling its meteoric growth in terms ofpolitical, economic and military clout.

The pinnacle of this growth occurred during the second Obama administration, prompting China's President Xi Jinping to proclaim a "new model of great power relations" during his first state visit to the US.

The China-US relationship during this period came to be defined as both co-operative and competitive. Mr Xi has frequently stated that the common interests of the US and China far outweigh their differences.

Despite growing strategic mistrust, economic interdependency became the cornerstone of the US-China relationship, demonstrated by the success of the recent G20 meeting in Hangzhou towards the end of Mr Obama's term.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption China's island-building in the South China Sea has raised the hackles of neighbours and the US

If Mr Trump were to undermine this stability and interdependency