HONG KONG -- An end to the US-China trade dispute is the world's best hope for long-term pandemic recovery, a British economist has said.

"A return to strong US-China bilateral trade would do much to restore economic confidence," David Brown, chief executive of New View Economics, an independent consulting group, opined in a recent article published by the South China Morning Post.

With global growth expected to lose momentum this year as many of the world's central banks wind down monetary super-stimulus and step up their fight against inflation, the United States and China will need to find new resources to sustain confidence, Brown said.

"Once stronger trade flows are restored, the world stands a better chance of stability and sustainable recovery in the future," he said.

"As the world restocks and finally catches up with the backlog of unfilled orders, the boost to global trade will wane and require a fresh boost," he added.

The expert proposed "one solution which would have an immediate effect on global growth this year," which is "for the United States and China to settle their differences over trade and clear the way for faster bilateral export flows."

"With clear signs that world trade is slowing, a breakthrough is needed soon," he said.