As President Donald Trump unleashes sweeping changes across the US government and slaps tariffs on America’s leading trade partners, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to hold a major political gathering designed to project confidence in his country’s ability to stay the course and weather external headwinds.
Trump escalated his trade war with China as thousands of delegates convene in the Chinese capital for the country’s “two sessions” annual meeting. At the highly choreographed spectacle, Xi and his officials are set to broadcast China as a major power steadily advancing its tech prowess and global rise.
And Beijing has made clear it will not bow to pressure from the world’s largest economy. As Trump’s White House doubled the tariff on all Chinese imports to 20% on Tuesday, China hit back by imposing retaliatory tariffs of up to 15% on selected American goods, expanding export controls to US firms and filing a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization.
