BEIJING - China's status as "the world's factory" is hard to replace, Nobel Laureate in Economics Michael Spence said in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.

"There is no replacement for China at the moment," said the economist when sharing his view on China's role as "the world's factory" and envisioning the future of the country's economy in the interview published on Monday.

"And it will take some considerable time before we're willing to say that China is not the world's factory," Spence added.

The economist also believes that, over time, "we will see more dispersed manufacturing capabilities in many categories" partly because of China's own growth and development and partly because of the growth of other economies.

"Now China is clearly the leader in solar, electric vehicles and battery technology. Do expect a surge in exports of those things or foreign direct investment, which is the other channel it could take, because the world is supposed to be solving the climate sustainability problem," said the economist when asked if he agreed with the increasing concerns of the West about China's so-called overcapacity.

"And that would materially advance the agenda, but exports of these key elements of the energy transition are being blocked by Western countries. It's hard to invent a national security argument for this. It is probably a mistake, certainly from the point of view of meeting sustainability targets," he added.