Although the US is in decline, underestimating the country could still prove a “fatal mistake”, according to a prominent Chinese commentator.

“The United States is still a hegemony in decline. Even with its relative decline, it remains a hegemony because no nation or force is currently capable of truly taking its place,” Zheng Yongnian, dean of the school of public policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, said.

In a recent interview with the Greater Bay Area Review, which is published by the university’s think tank The Institute for International Affairs, Qianhai, Zheng noted there was a “big gap” between being in decline and being “replaced” as the global hegemon.

He said the idea of the US being overtaken “remains purely hypothetical”, citing the dominance of the dollar as the primary reserve currency, alongside America’s superior military capabilities and edge in emerging technologies.

Gallup’s latest global approval ratings show that China has overtaken the US for the first time in almost two decades, with median approval of US leadership falling to 31 per cent last year while China’s climbed to 36 per cent.