NEW YORK, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Famed investor Jim Rogers said Thursday a rise in protectionism is "disastrous" for the world.

    "Protectionism has always been horrible," said Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum Fund and creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index.

    "Unfortunately protectionism has started in the United States this time, and other people are copying and saying 'if you can do it, we can do it too,'" Rogers said in an interview with Xinhua during an ETF Securities Ltd. Investor conference in New York on Thursday

    "As you may know, the Great Depression in the 1930s was caused by the rise of protectionism. Protectionism has never worked," he said.

    Nobody has ever wanted a trade war and everybody would not benefit from a trade war, he added.

    Rogers, who traveled to many places in China on motorcycle in 1980s and 1990s, congratulated the People's Republic of China on its 60th birthday. "(The first) 60 years has been great. I think the next 60 years will be even better!"

    Rogers said China will have problems in the next hundred years, as every country will have. "It's not straight up for anybody," Rogers told Xinhua, "But even with the problems China will have, China is still the next great country in the world."

    Rogers thinks China has done a good job in combating the economic downturn. "China has saved a lot of money for rainy day. It is now raining, and China is spending some of the money it saved. China seems to spend money better than a lot of western countries. It seems to be building for the future."

    Rogers believes when the world comes out of the crisis, China will be more competitive than in the past.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis