What Xi Said is a weekly rundown of the top ten emerging issues from the past seven days shaping US-China commercial relations.
What Xi Said is for global communication strategists and C-Suite executives.
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Memo: What Xi Said | January 18, 2021
1. America's new Asia Czar: Ex-state department official Kurt Campbell is expected to serve in the new Biden administration with a newly created, whole of government role. Campbell is a China hawk and is widely credited as the architect of the Obama administration's 2012 "pivot to Asia" strategy.
2. The Trump administration announced that it was banning the import of all cotton and tomato goods from Xinjiang, and products from other countries that contain those items, because they are produced using the forced labor of Uyghurs.
3. China's official GDP data reported economic growth of 2.3% in 2020. Fourth-quarter GDP was more robust than the consensus forecast, and third-quarter GDP was revised up. "This is the only major economy that quickly recovered from the pandemic and could run business normally." --Zhou Linlin, a Shanghai financier on Huahong's board
4. Xi Jinping called on Starbucks to help improve US-China ties, striking a business-friendly tone as the Biden administration prepares to take over in Washington. "I hope Starbucks will make active efforts to promote China-US economic and trade cooperation and the development of bilateral relations," Xi said in reply to a letter from Chairman Emeritus Howard Schultz.
5. In the deeply fractured world of US politics, there is rare bipartisan agreement that China should be treated as a rival, competitor, and possible military foe. "The American public and American politicians increasingly view China as an economic threat, a security threat, a human rights abuser." -- Susan Shirk of the 21st Century China Center
6. Europe's approach to China is in a moment of considerable flux. The EU has just signed a long-awaited investment treaty with Beijing. But the EU is also increasingly alarmed at the growing influence of what it calls "authoritarian powers," such as China, and has called for a stronger alliance with the incoming Biden administration.
7. 2020 was a big year for blockchain projects in China after Xi called for further development. The Blockchain Service Network is China's bid to unify disparate blockchain projects while maintaining control at home.
8. Elon Musk loves China, and China loves him back—for now: Bloomberg reports, Tesla's unprecedented success in China has helped Musk become the world's richest man. How long can the good times last?
9. Baidu and Geely join forces to accelerate EVs: Baidu, China's largest search engine and a significant investor in autonomous driving technology, announced a deal with Geely Automobile, China's leading privately-held carmaker, to make self-driving EVs, initially focusing on passenger cars.
10. Chinese New Year plans hit by travel bans: Plans for a typical Spring Festival have been halted. Twenty-five provinces and autonomous regions in China are introducing restrictions discouraging people from traveling over the break, with 14 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Shenzhen, imposing similar rules.
