\n In recent weeks, after US rules hit China\u2019s access to American technology and targeted its shipping industry, Beijing fired back by announcing a sweeping expansion of export controls<\/a> on critical rare earth minerals \u2013 a move that rattled Washington and pushed Trump to threaten to pile an additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.\n <\/p>\n \n Both sides have appeared to climb down from that latest escalation following eleventh-hour trade talks<\/a> between top negotiators this weekend in Malaysia.\n <\/p>\n \n Xi and Trump are now set to meet on the sidelines of an international summit in South Korea<\/a> Thursday \u2013 their first face-to-face meeting of Trump\u2019s second term, where they\u2019re expected to agree to a framework for managing their economic ties.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s not yet clear what each side has agreed to concede to get to that point \u2013 and this is just one touchstone in a complex and volatile competition between superpowers.\n <\/p>\n \n But it will also be a moment where Xi is entering the room after cementing a new reality in US-China relations: China will negotiate, but it won\u2019t be cowed.\n <\/p>\n \n All that doesn\u2019t mean that the stakes aren\u2019t high for Xi.\n <\/p>\n \n Instead of the US and China working together on global threats as a \u201cG2\u201d of the world\u2019s most powerful economies, Beijing sees a US that aims to hinder its rise with tariffs, high-tech export controls and political friction.\n <\/p>\n \n Current US tariffs on Chinese goods \u2013 which stand at upwards of 50% on average \u2013 are putting pressure on the country\u2019s already slowing economy, and those could more than double if the two leaders can\u2019t find common ground.\n <\/p>\n \n But as US officials tout Trump\u2019s ability to \u201ccreate leverage\u201d to pressure China, over on Beijing\u2019s half of the split-screen, China, too, sees success in its strategy.\n <\/p>\n \n There, the common sense is that China is ready for this contest: it\u2019s created natural leverage through its strategic dominance over the global rare earths supply chain; it\u2019s diversified trade to become less dependent on the US market and it\u2019s been pushing to accelerate innovation that would allow it to wean off American goods like high-end semi-conductors.\n <\/p>\n \n Beijing was \u201cfully prepared\u201d for how Trump might act toward China when he started his second term, according to Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBut from the US side, any tariff or any measures taken (by) the Chinese side has helped President Trump himself to learn the capacity of China is different from eight years ago \u2026 and he understands that what is changed \u2013 is the US is not the dominant power anymore,\u201d Wang said.\n <\/p>\n \n Beijing is also continuing its push to insulate itself from future shocks \u2013 including in its upcoming five-year plan<\/a>, which aims to deepen a top-down drive for tech and industrial self-sufficiency.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cChina is very calm in facing all these conflicts and difficulties set up by United States,\u201d Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies think tank at Renmin University in Beijing, told a gathering of reporters last week in Beijing.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe United States is still a major partner, however, among China\u2019s landscape, the US is losing its importance,\u201d Wang added.\n <\/p>\n \n Both sides gave positive signals after trade talks over the weekend, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggesting Beijing would defer its controls on rare earths, while the US would pull back its 100% tariff threat and extend an earlier tariff truce.\n <\/p>\n \n But China has not made such statements, and there\u2019s still a risk that the two strongmen can\u2019t see eye to eye or a rogue comment throws off the delicate detente. And, as is often the case with Trump\u2019s diplomacy, much may come down to the day-of chemistry between the two leaders, who last met in 2019. Such dynamics were on show Tuesday in Japan, where Trump hit it off with the country\u2019s new conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaishi<\/a>, and promised that if Japan needed any favors the US would be there.\n <\/p>\n \n In his Trump meeting, Xi\u2019s top priorities will be aiming to see the US reduce tariffs and roll back export controls, analysts say. To make that happen, he may be willing to ease or defer China\u2019s latest export controls on rare earths.\n <\/p>\n \n China imposed those controls to \u201ccoerce the US to not to put sweeping sanctions on China,\u201d but rather to limit its sanctions to a \u201cvery few national security fields,\u201d said Shanghai-based foreign affairs analyst Shen Dingli.\n <\/p>\n \n Whether that works in practice will be put to the test Thursday in a meeting where Beijing is hoping Trump will treat Xi with the kind of respect and warmth for the Chinese leader that he\u2019s professed in recent months and on the campaign trail.\n <\/p>\n \n China\u2019s top diplomat Wang gave a subtle reminder of that in his call with Rubio Monday.\n <\/p>\n \n Xi and Trump were \u201cboth world-class leaders, who have engaged with each other over a long period and with mutual respect,\u201d Wang said, according to a readout. \u201cUpholding the spirit of equality, respect, and mutual benefit,\u201d he added, was a key condition for \u201cmoving the bilateral relationship forward.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beijing \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 For Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a landmark meeting with Donald Trump expected this week is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-247707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Shipping](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/gettyimages-2240481465-20251024081319275.jpg\")
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