Sydney | China has narrowed the gap with the United States in a race to become the most powerful country in Asia, with middle nations like Australia tipped to play a greater role mediating stand-offs between the two superpowers, according to an annual index by the Lowy Institute.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused the biggest shake-up of power in the region outside of wartime, but China is still not expected to match the United States' power in the region until at least 2030, Lowy's annual stocktake of relative power on the continent found.