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 | Edition 9 | March 8, 2021
1. US vs. China: Biden bets on alliances to push back against Beijing: Demetri Sevastopulo writes the new administration believes it can develop a more effective China strategy if it can work closely with old friends.
Speaking to the Munich security conference: "We are in the midst of a fundamental debate about the future and direction of our world," President Biden said, a choice between those who argue that "autocracy is the best way forward and those who understand that democracy is essential."
2. The Biden administration is under escalating pressure to push for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics, scheduled for Beijing next February, over China's rampant human rights abuses.
Human rights groups and some Republicans in Congress say a US-led boycott would send a forceful signal to China, as well as other authoritarian countries, about America's commitment to democratic freedoms and Biden's willingness to confront Beijing over what his own advisers have called "genocide."
3. China is not ten feet tall: Ryan Hass writes how alarmism undermines American strategy.
"The more the United States can restore confidence that it is the country best prepared in the world to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, the better it will be able to focus attention where it matters most: not on slowing China down but on strengthening itself."
4. China now has 1,058 billionaires, beating the US to become the first country globally with over 1,000 US-dollar billionaire tycoons, according to the new Hurun Global Rich List 2021.
5. China is too big and distinct to ignore: Over the past 20 years, China's economy has grown fivefold and now accounts for approximately 20% of total global economic output and 30% of annual global GDP growth. Its equity market capitalization is 25 times larger, now close to 11% of the world's total, and the market for China tradable debt securities has grown from $200 billion to $16 trillion.
6. Pineapple diplomacy: Canadian diplomats pose with Hawaiian pizza after China bans Taiwan imports: Reuters reports, "We in the Canadian Office like pineapple pizza, especially pineapples from Taiwan!," reads a Facebook post from the Canadian diplomats. China on Friday announced the indefinite ban on importing Taiwanese pineapples would begin Monday, citing "harmful creatures" it said could come with the fruit, The Guardian reported.
7. "The East is rising": Xi maps out China's post-COVID ascent: NYT reports, "The biggest source of chaos in the present-day world is the United States," Xi said, a county official in northwest China recounted in a speech published last week on a government website.
8. China's plan to win in a post-pandemic world: NYT reports the message at the National People's Congress was one of optimism about the strength of its economy and of struggle against an array of internal and external challenges.
The government promised economic growth of "over 6 percent," a relatively modest target by the standards of China's pre-pandemic expansion but a significant turnabout from last year and a signal of its commitment to keeping the world's second-largest economy humming.
9. China’s image in the US hit historic lows: Gallup reports Americans' favorable ratings of China have plummeted to a record low of 20%, following a 13-percentage point drop in favorability from 33% a year ago.
This comes on the heels of last year's eight-point decline, measured after the coronavirus first spread in China but before it became a worldwide pandemic.
10. Aileen Lee coined the term 'unicorn' in Silicon Valley in 2013. That year there was not a single unicorn from China in Lee's group. Today she could identify as many as 200. The current list paints a picture of China's progress across some crucial industries and sectors. And as more unicorns join the herd, they also point to the future of the country's economy. China's top 50 unicorns are still topped by Ant Group in terms of valuation.
