Intricate tango of the American eagle with a Chinese panda

In the space of just four months, another summit of the presidents of the United States and China, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, took place in Washington. The Chinese leader received a pompous welcome, which symbolically underlined the importance of the most important bilateral relationship in the contemporary world. Throughout the visit, they did not spare mutual assurances about the friendly relations between the two most powerful men on the planet.

But what is most decisive for the mutual relations between the two powers today?

As recently as 2017, Xi had to be cautious at his first meeting with Trump at his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence: the Middle Kingdom was more vulnerable to U.S. embargoes on advanced technology and trade tariffs.

Even after his second visit to the White House in January 2025, Trump aimed an "economic bazooka" at China in the form of extremely high tariffs and export restrictions on microchips, but Beijing's retaliation has already hurt the US.

He introduced reciprocal tariffs and limited exports of key minerals, without which smartphones, cars and sophisticated weapons cannot be produced today. In the end, Trump had to retreat from an open trade war.

The US has a rival in front of it, which is a heavy technological weight in the development of artificial intelligence, robotics, the space program or renewable energy sources. And there is no way around it.

Washington sees China as its most important challenger and geopolitical rival, but at the same time it knows that the degree of economic interdependence is extraordinary. However, trade relations remain complicated, with the possibility of higher tariffs still in the air. So far, both sides have extended the "trade truce", which was supposed to expire on November 10, by only two months.

Nevertheless, China's economic attractiveness is evidenced by the participation of American tech stars at Thursday's state dinner in Xi's honor at the White House. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple Chairman Tim Cook, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were there.

But there is no doubt that there is a race between the two powers to be dominant in the field of artificial intelligence. That is why the US has imposed strict export controls on microchips, semiconductors, software and chip production equipment in an attempt to slow down China's development. This is where the most bread will be broken in mutual relations.

Nevertheless, the Americans are aware that the race should also have some rules. This is evidenced by the proposal to create a mechanism that would alert both countries to serious incidents related to artificial intelligence that could threaten national security. In a situation where both countries are crossing a new technological frontier in the competition for technological leadership in AI, a new "red phone" is certainly needed.

Xi also called for the militaries of the two countries to "maintain regular dialogue and improve crisis communication and prevention mechanisms."

This can also be framed in the framework of ensuring "constructive strategic stability", which both sides agreed on during the May meeting in Beijing.

However, there was no breakthrough on the "Iranian front" during the negotiations – China continues to refuse to join the isolation of Tehran, and Xi only reiterated his support for peace talks. At the same time, Trump heard from him to oppose Taiwan's independence and to address this issue "prudently". So far, the postponement of the $14 billion arms package for Taipei has been in force – Trump called the arms sale a "very good argument in negotiations" with China.

To sum up: the vigilant dialogue between the two powers continues. The announced loan of two pandas to the Atlanta Zoo may also contribute to it.

Miloš Balabán, MF Dnes