(Bloomberg) -- The Chinese economy remains a massive opportunity for Western companies, and a recent easing of US-China tension offers tailwinds for the global economy, said Axel Weber, former UBS Group AG Chairman.

“What we saw in the G-20 meetings recently has taken some of my biggest fears away that we would see a continued escalation of the conflict between China and the US,” Weber said in a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held face-to-face meetings at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, this week -- discussions that analysts said will put a floor under deteriorating relations between both countries.

Read More: Biden, Xi Chart Path to Warmer Ties With Blinken China Visit

“You cannot run the global economy without China and it’s good that the US and China are trying to work together more,” said Weber, who also headed Germany’s Bundesbank between 2004 and 2011. Weber is now chairman of the Institute of International Finance.

A reversal of globalization trends that sees China decouple from the global economy would pose massive headwinds for world growth and developing economies especially, he said.

On crypto currencies, Weber questioned their intrinsic value and warned that they lack transparency, which he said leaves an opportunity for central banks to continue developing digital currencies.

“Central banks are trying to move into digital currencies, and I think that will be a much more stable construct because it will replace analog money with more digital money, which now really matches payment patterns of many consumers,” Weber said. “But crypto, I am still skeptical of the entire construction.”

The former UBS chairman was also asked about troubles at the bank’s rival Credit Suisse Group AG, saying a merger between the two remains unlikely.

“Really, the issue at the moment is, unless there is a limit and unless there is a clear understanding of the downside risks in Credit Suisse, you will have a very hard time for any international competitor, including a Swiss competitor, to think about a merger,” he said. “Their shareholders will really want to see that this bank is on an improving trajectory.”

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