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 25, 2021

1. Xi at the virtual Davos: China was the only major economy to grow last year, and China just signed an investment pact with the European Union. Plus, he reminded the audience China has done a far better job than the US at containing COVID-19. Any questions?

2. Do you have a copy of America against America? A month after it was announced that Wang Huning would become one of the seven most senior officials in the Communist Party of China in 2017, his out-of-print book was selling at sky-high prices. The cost of getting one of Wang's works moved higher this month as it forewarned civil strife across the US.

3. Exit Captain Chaos: As Trump departed DC, his pre-recorded closing video cited his uncompromising stance towards Beijing and how he had "rallied the nations of the world to stand up to China like never before." CW in DC is that Trump was right to be more aggressive with Beijing, but the execution was lacking.

4. Trump's last-minute moves against China complicate Biden's agenda: The decision to push through a declaration that China is committing genocide was the latest in a series of actions politicizing US-China issues. Looking to reset the troubled relationship, Beijing is pressing for a meeting of its top diplomat with Team Biden to explore a summit between the two nations' leaders.

5: Team Biden calls China sanctions on Trump aides' aides' “unproductive”: Beijing sanctioned Pompeo and 27 other Trump officials just as Biden was being inaugurated.

“Imposing these sanctions on Inauguration Day is seemingly an attempt to play to partisan divides.” -- National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne

6. Team Biden assures Japan that Senkakus fall under security treaty: Tokyo angles to get Washington on same policy page on topics from climate to China.

7. Twitter locked the account of China's US embassy for a tweet that defended China's policy towards Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, which the company said violated its stand against "dehumanizing" people. The Chinese embassy's account has not posted any new tweets since January 8.

8. The Chinese government's crackdown on the country's largest technology companies has raised fears that the industry could be paralyzed as the economy enters a delicate moment. But there's one contingent within the tech sector privately cheering on a broad set of anti-monopoly edicts: startups and their investors.

9. Beijing Calories Technology: Touted as Peloton's Chinese twin, the company has morphed into the largest provider of on-demand workout classes in China. Like Peloton, its valuation has been exploding since the onset of the coronavirus. In early January, Beijing Calories raised another $360 mn on a $2 bn valuation from a consortium led by the Softbank Vision Fund.

10. Li Ning takes control of UK shoemaker Clarks: According to a filing, Viva China, the sports talent agency founded and controlled by Li, has agreed to pay £51 mn for 51% of LionRock Capital. The investment will give Viva China control of Clarks when LionRock'sLionRock's £100 million takeover is completed.