Chinese leader Xi Jinping may have perceived U.S. President Donald Trump's sky-high tariffs as a test of his resolve ahead of an expected showdown over the future of their economic relationship. Indeed, China's state media hailed this month's trade talks in Switzerland as a decisive victory that had fully justified the decision to retaliate rather than immediately renegotiate.
That Beijing is now also waging a narrative war suggests what began as a trade dispute between the world's only true superpowers has become a battle of political wills. And, crucially for Xi, it is also about China's ability to grow its slice of the global manufacturing pie despite internal and external headwinds.
