Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has made a resounding argument for investing in China, even as a trade war between Beijing and Washington appears to be escalating.

In a video posted online on Tuesday, a day after Sino-US trade tensions spread to the currency markets, Mr Dalio said that there remained a historic opportunity to buy into a country that is opening up its markets to foreign investors over the long term.

“Would you not have wanted to invested with the Dutch in the Dutch empire, would you have not wanted to invested in the Industrial Revolution and the British empire, would you have not wanted to invest with the United States?” he said. “I think it’s comparable. Would you have not wanted to have invested in those places?”