China, not the United States, is bearing the bigger economic brunt of the ongoing West Asia conflict that has roiled global energy markets, former International Monetary Fund(IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath said, dismissing the perception that Beijing is largely insulated from the fallout of a US-Iran conflict.In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Gopinath, currently a Professor of Economics at Harvard University, said the economic blow to the US has been minimal, given that it is a net energy exporter, despite concerns over inflation.“China is actually affected more by this conflict than the US is,” though China has other energy suppliers, she said.While China sources significant energy from Russia and does not rely entirely on the Middle East, and also maintains substantial reserves, the conflict still proves costlier for Beijing.“But this is definitely costlier for China than it is for the US,” she added.China’s energy dependence on the Middle East remains significant, with roughly 40-50 per cent of its crude oil imports sourced from the region, while Iran alone accounts for about 12-15 per cent of its total imports.For the US, however, “the economic impact is quite minimal, being a net energy exporter,” Gopinath said, noting that rising prices could still hurt the Donald Trump administration politically.“Yes, the fact that prices are going up, I think is actually costly, not just from the economic....