BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- As many countries are struggling with a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, China has brought the virus under control and cemented its status as the world's major manufacturing and trading nation as well as economic powerhouse, economists have said.

China's economy has rebounded faster during the pandemic than that of the United States and the listing of "hot" companies on Chinese stock markets is attracting capital, founder of U.S. investment management firm Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio said on Monday.

China's higher interest rates mean the nation is in a better position of "not having to print money," he said in a conversation with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

British economist Jim O'Neill, best known for coining the acronym BRICS, said during China's semi-annual Golden Week holiday in early October that many Chinese people appear to have traveled far and wide within the country without triggering another wave of COVID-19 infections.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand 5.4 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2020, up from 3.2 percent in the second quarter, according to a recent research note by Bank of America Global Research.

O'Neill said there is good reason to believe that China is experiencing a classic "V-shaped" recovery, putting it on track to register 8 percent growth in 2021.

Moreover, at the current growth rate, China is poised to contribute an additional 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars to global GDP next year, and Chinese consumers will drive close to 40 percent of that, he wrote in an article published on Project Syndicate website.

Given that consumer spending continues to account for a growing share of China's expansion, the scale of the economic opportunities on offer cannot be overstated, he added.

China is cementing its status as the world's dominant trading nation, Yao Wei, chief Asia-Pacific economist at French investment bank Societe Generale SA, said in a recent interview with Bloomberg.

Surging global demand for everything from hazmat suits to work-from-home technology has allowed China to capture a record market share of global exports by quickly reopening its factories while the rest of the world still grapples with lockdowns, she said.

It's a striking reversal from the first two months of the year when China's exports contracted by 17.1 percent, she said.

"China's export performance during this crisis is indeed a proof of its solid status as the world's factory," she said. "It's reliable, as the quick and effective containment of the outbreak in China allowed its manufacturing sector to resume operations way ahead of others."

China's foreign trade increased 7.5 percent year on year in the third quarter of this year, official data showed. Exports jumped 10.2 percent year on year while imports climbed 4.3 percent in yuan terms, the General Administration of Customs said.