China and the U.S. will not start a trade war, as U.S. President Trump is an open-minded person who simply needs more time, according to Jack Ma, founder and chairman of China’s Alibaba Group Holding. Ma made his remarks at the Davos World Economic Forum, also adding that it is wrong to ascribe America’s economic problems to China.

According to Ma, it is the U.S. itself that is responsible for its sluggish economy, given that about $14 trillion was wasted on waging war over the past 30 years rather than invested in infrastructure. Furthermore, China did not steal American jobs, Ma said; the loss of jobs is a strategic mistake on the part of the U.S.

He went on to explain that the U.S. adopted a strategy to control intellectual property rights and select brands three decades ago, leaving lower-level works to the rest of the world. Besides, multinational American enterprises like Microsoft and IBM have created hundreds of millions in profits through globalization. This large sum could have been invested in infrastructure and employment, but was instead put toward 13 wars. The U.S. simply failed to allot the funds reasonably, Ma stated.

Ma's meeting with Trump was much more productive than expected, Ma said, explaining that they mainly focused on the issues of SOEs and China-U.S. trade, especially American enterprises selling in Asia through Alibaba’s platform, which will provide about 1 million jobs for Americans in various ways.

It is easy to wage a trade war, but hard to end the war--perhaps even impossible. If trade stops, the war will start, Ma predicted, noting that trade enables people to exchange both culture and business ideas, while also acting as a deterrent for war.