George H. W. Bush administration (1989–1993) Americans who had been optimistic about the emergence of democratic characteristics in response to the rapid economic growth and China were stunned and disappointed by the brutal crackdown of the pro-democratic Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. The U.S. and other governments enacted a number of measures against China's violation of
human rights. The U.S. suspended high-level official exchanges with the PRC and weapons exports from the U.S. to the PRC. The U.S. also imposed a number of
economic sanctions. In the summer of 1990, at the
G7 Houston summit, the West called for renewed political and economic reforms in mainland China, particularly in the field of human rights. The Tiananmen event disrupted the U.S.-China trade relationship, and U.S. investors' interest in mainland China dropped dramatically. Tourist traffic fell off sharply. The Bush administration denounced the repression and suspended certain trade and investment programs on 5 and 20 June 1989, however Congress was responsible for imposing many of these actions, and the White House itself took a far less critical attitude of Beijing, repeatedly expressing hope that the two countries could maintain normalized relations. Generally, Bush's preference was for sanctions which were not formalized in law in order to provide flexibility for altering or removing them. Some sanctions were legislated while others were executive actions. Examples include: • The
US Trade and Development Agency (TDA): new activities in mainland China were suspended from June 1989 until January 2001, when President
Bill Clinton lifted this suspension. • Overseas Private Insurance Corporation (OPIC): new activities have been suspended since June 1989. • Development Bank Lending/
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Credits: the US does not support development bank lending and will not support IMF credits to the PRC except for projects that address basic human needs. •
Munitions List Exports: subject to certain exceptions, no licenses may be issued for the export of any defense article on the U.S. Munitions List. This restriction may be waived upon a presidential national interest determination. • Arms Imports – import of defense articles from the PRC was banned after the imposition of the ban on arms exports to the PRC. The import ban was subsequently waived by the administration and reimposed on 26 May 1994. It covers all items on the
BATFE's Munitions Import List. During this critical period,
J. Stapleton Roy, a career U.S. Foreign Service officer, served as ambassador to Beijing. Debate within the United States also began on whether China should continue to receive the annual presidential waiver for
most favored nation trading status under the
Jackson-Vanik Amendment. U.S.-China military ties and arms sales were terminated in 1989 and as of 2024 have never been restored. Chinese public opinion became more hostile to the United States after 1989, as typified by the 1996 manifesto
China Can Say No. The authors called for Beijing to take more aggressive actions against the US and Japan in order to build a stronger international position. The Chinese government at first endorsed the manifesto, then repudiated it as irresponsible. The end of the Cold War and
dissolution of the Soviet Union removed the original motives underlying rapprochement between China and the US. Motivated by concerns that the United States might curtail support for China's modernization, Deng adopted a low-profile foreign policy to live with the fact of United States hegemony and focus primarily on domestic development.
Clinton administration (1993–2001) Running for president in 1992,
Bill Clinton sharply criticized his predecessor George H. W. Bush for prioritizing profitable trade relationships over human rights issues in China. Clinton's 28 May 1993 Executive Order 128950 linked future extension of China's most favored nation trading status to China's progress on U.S.-defined human rights measures. China made virtually no effort to comply with the U.S. conditions and in mid-1994 Clinton changed his position, de-linking the China's most favored nation status from human rights issues. Congressional pressure, especially from the
Republican Party, prompted Clinton to approve arms sales to Taiwan, despite the strong displeasure voiced by Beijing. In July 1993, a symbolic United States Congressional resolution opposed China's efforts to be selected as the host country for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Nonetheless, Chinese leader
Jiang Zemin adopted a diplomatic posture of goodwill and a "sixteen-characters formula" to working with the United States: "enhancing confidence, avoiding troubles, expanding cooperation, and avoiding confrontation". , 1999 In 1996, the People's Liberation Army conducted military exercises in the Taiwan Strait in an apparent effort to intimidate the Republic of China electorate before the
pending presidential elections, triggering the
Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. The United States dispatched two
aircraft carrier battle groups to the region. Subsequently, tensions in the Taiwan Strait diminished and relations between the U.S. and the PRC improved, with increased high-level exchanges and progress on numerous bilateral issues, including human rights,
nuclear proliferation, and trade. China's leader Jiang Zemin visited the United States in the fall of 1997, the first state visit to the U.S. by a paramount leader since 1979. In connection with that visit, the two sides came to a consensus on implementation of their 1985 agreement on Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation, as well as a number of other issues. President Clinton visited the PRC in June 1998. He traveled extensively in mainland China, and had direct interaction with the Chinese people, including live speeches and a radio show which allowed the President to convey a sense of American ideals and values. In a speech at
Peking University, he referred to the 21st century as "your century", and expressed his view that technology, including the internet, would help ease any tensions China's economic growth might cause. President Clinton was criticized by some, however, for failing to pay adequate attention to human rights abuses in mainland China. When Clinton visited Shanghai, he declared the "three nos" for United States foreign policy towards China: (1) not recognizing two Chinas, (2) not supporting Taiwanese independence, and (3) not supporting Taiwanese efforts to join international organizations for which sovereignty is a membership requirement. Relations were damaged for a time by the
United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on 7 May 1999, which was stated by the White House to be miscoordination between intelligence and the military. The bombing created outrage among Chinese people, who did not accept the United States claim that the bombing was accidental. For several days, Beijing was rocked by massive anti-US demonstrations. Deeming the importance of the bilateral relationship too great to be harmed by the embassy bombing, Chinese leader Jiang Zemin sought to calm the Chinese public outrage. By the end of 1999, relations began to gradually improve. In October 1999, the two countries reached an agreement on compensation for families of those who were victims, as well as payments for damages to respective diplomatic properties in
Belgrade and China. U.S.-China relations in 1999 were also damaged by accusations that a Chinese-American scientist at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory had given U.S. nuclear secrets to Beijing.
George W. Bush administration (2001–2009) and Chinese leader
Hu Jintao with first ladies
Laura Bush and
Liu Yongqing wave from the White House in April 2006. As a presidential candidate in 2000, George W. Bush repeatedly criticized the Clinton-Gore administration for being too friendly with China, which he warned was a strategic competitor. In the
Hainan Island incident of 1 April 2001, a U.S.
EP-3 surveillance aircraft collided mid-air with a Chinese
Shenyang J-8 jet fighter over the South China Sea. China sought a formal apology, and accepted United States Secretary of State
Colin Powell's expression of "very sorry" as sufficient. The incident nonetheless created negative feelings towards the United States by the Chinese public and increased public feelings of
Chinese nationalism. Early on as President Bush increased arms sales to Taiwan, including 8 submarines. Bush's hostile position toward China was suddenly reversed after the
11 September terrorist attacks, and his friendly attitude toward Taiwan became a casualty. Soon he was calling China a strategic partner in the war on terror and postponing deals with Taiwan. Two PRC citizens died in the attacks on the
World Trade Center. Chinese leader Jiang Zemin sent a telegram to Bush within hours of the attack expressing China's condolences and opposition to terror; Bush responded with a phone call the next day stating that he looked forward to working with Jiang and other world leaders to oppose terrorism. Chinese companies and individuals also sent expressions of condolences to their American counterparts. The PRC, itself troubled by Muslim separatists in Xinjiang, offered strong public support for the
war on terror in
APEC China 2001. The PRC voted in favor of
UNSCR 1373, publicly supported the
coalition campaign in
Afghanistan, and contributed $150 million of bilateral assistance to
Afghan reconstruction following the defeat of the
Taliban. Shortly after the 11 September terrorist attacks, the U.S. and PRC also commenced a counterterrorism dialogue. In a March 2002 trip to Beijing, Bush articulated his desire for a "constructive, cooperative, and candid" relationship with China. The third round of that dialogue was held in Beijing in February 2003. In the United States, the threat of terrorist attacks by
al-Qaeda greatly changed the nature of its security concerns. It was no longer plausible to argue, as the
Blue Team had earlier asserted, that the PRC was the primary security threat to the United States, and the need to focus on the
Middle East and the war on terror made the avoidance of potential distractions in East Asia a priority for the United States. There were initial fears among the PRC leadership that the war on terrorism would lead to an anti-PRC effort by the U.S., especially as the U.S. began establishing bases in
Central Asian countries like
Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan and renewed efforts against
Iraq. The Chinese government was relieved after the United States tied up major national resources with its
2003 invasion of Iraq. China believed that the United States' Middle East meant that the United States would need China's help on issues such as counterterrorism, Middle Eastern stability, and nuclear non-proliferation and viewed the United States' focus as conducive to China's emphasis on stability and domestic development. China and the United States worked closely on regional issues, including those pertaining to North Korea and its
nuclear weapons program. China has stressed its opposition to North Korea's decision to withdraw from the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, its concerns over North Korea's nuclear capabilities, and its desire for a non-nuclear
Korean Peninsula. It also voted to refer North Korea's noncompliance with its
International Atomic Energy Agency obligations to the UN Security Council. In 2001, a presidential plane built in the United States for Chinese leader Jiang Zemin was found to have listening devices installed. Chinese authorities located at least 20 devices, including one in the headboard of the presidential bed. The listening devices were capable of being operated via satellite. The 2003 United States invasion of Iraq and the failure of the United States to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction decreased China's respect for America's power and realism. China's paramount leader
Hu Jintao visited the United States in April 2006. Bush visited Beijing in August for four days to attend the
2008 Summer Olympics. The president and his wife Laura were accompanied by Bush's father, the former president, and his mother Barbara.
Obama administration (2009–2017) holds the autographed basketball given to him by President Obama following their Washington meeting 28 July 2009, to discuss the outcomes of the first
U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Looking on at left is State Councilor
Dai Bingguo. The
2008 U.S. presidential election centered on issues of war and economic recession, but candidates
Barack Obama and
John McCain also spoke extensively regarding U.S. policy toward China. Both favored cooperation with China on major issues, but they differed with regard to trade policy. Obama expressed concern that the value of China's currency was being deliberately set low to benefit China's exporters. McCain argued that free trade was crucial and was having a transformative effect in China. Still, McCain noted that while China might have shared interests with the US, it did not share American values. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 generated positive reactions from most locals and state-run media outlets in China.
His presidency fostered hopes for increased co-operation and heightened levels of friendship between the two nations. On 8 November 2008, Chinese leader Hu Jintao and Obama shared a phone conversation in which Hu congratulated Obama on his election victory. During the conversation both parties agreed that the development of Sino-American relations is not only in the interest of both nations, but also in the interests of the international community. During the Obama administration, the U.S. signed more bilateral agreements with China than it had during any other U.S. administration, particularly with regard to addressing climate change. The two countries signed seven clean energy agreements on 17 November 2009, during Obama's visit to China, including an agreement establishing the
U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC). As the two most influential and powerful countries in the world, there have been increasingly strong suggestions within American political circles of creating a
G-2 (Chimerica) relationship for the United States and China to work out solutions to global problems together. The
Strategic Economic Dialogue initiated by then-US President Bush and Hu and led by U.S. Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson and Chinese Vice Premier
Wu Yi in 2006 was broadened by the
Obama administration into the
U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. in January 2011. Obama visited China on 15–18 November 2009 to discuss economic worries, concerns over nuclear weapon proliferation, and the need for action against climate change. In January 2010, the U.S. proposed a $6.4 billion arms sale to the Republic of China (Taiwan). In response, the PRC threatened to impose sanctions on U.S. companies supplying arms to Taiwan and suspend cooperation on certain regional and international issues. On 19 February 2010, Obama met with the
Dalai Lama, accused by China of "fomenting unrest in
Tibet." After the meeting, China summoned the U.S. ambassador to China,
Jon Huntsman, but
Time has described the Chinese reaction as "muted", speculating that it could be because "the meeting came during the
Chinese New Year... when most officials are on leave". Some activists criticized Obama for the relatively low profile of the visit. speaks with Chinese Premier
Li Keqiang, 9 October 2013. In 2012, the PRC criticized Obama's new defense strategy, which it said was aimed at isolating China in East Asia. Obama is looking to increase U.S. military influence in the area with a rotating presence of forces in friendly countries. In March 2012, China suddenly began cutting back its purchases of oil from Iran, which along with some signs on sensitive security issues like
Syria and North Korea, showed some coordination with the Obama administration. In March 2013, the U.S. and China agreed to impose stricter sanctions on North Korea for conducting nuclear tests, which sets the stage for UN Security Council vote. Such accord might signal a new level of cooperation between the U.S. and China. with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, 25 September 2015 In an effort to build a "new model" of relations, Obama met Chinese leader
Xi Jinping for two days of meetings, between 6 and 8 June 2013, at the
Sunnylands estate in
Rancho Mirage, California. The summit was considered "the most important meeting between an
American president and a
Chinese Communist leader in 40 years, since President Nixon and Chairman
Mao," according to
Joseph Nye, a political scientist at Harvard University. The leaders concretely agreed to
combat climate change and also found strong mutual interest in curtailing North Korea's
nuclear program.
Tom Donilon, the outgoing U.S.
National Security Adviser, stated that cyber security "is now at the center of the relationship", adding that if China's leaders were unaware of this fact, they know now. In 2014, Obama stated that "We recognize Tibet as part of the People's Republic of China. We are not in favor of
independence." Beginning in 2015, China's
People's Liberation Army Air Force began patrolling the South China Sea, including the disputed
Paracel and
Spratly Islands. In China's view, these disputed areas are within its
Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Obama hosted Xi for a bilateral meeting on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit on 31 March 2016.
First Trump administration (2017–2021) shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping upon arrival in Beijing, 19 March 2017. shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping upon arrival in Beijing, 14 June 2018. During his presidential campaign,
Donald Trump promised an assertive stance towards China. The presidency of Trump led to a negative shift in U.S. relations with China. President-elect Trump's telephone conversation with the president of Taiwan
Tsai Ing-wen on 2 December 2016 was the first such contact with Taiwan by an American president-elect or president since 1979. It provoked Beijing to lodge a diplomatic protest ("stern representations"). Trump went on to clarify his move: "I fully understand the
'one China' policy, but I don't know why we have to be bound by a 'one China' policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade." On taking office, the Trump administration stopped negotiations on a
bilateral investment treaty with China which had begun in 2008. On 4 January, on a visit to Japan, U.S. Defense Secretary
James Mattis reaffirmed Washington's commitment under the
Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan to defending Japan, including the
Senkaku Islands (the
East China Sea) that are claimed by China. On 9 February, Trump spoke with China's leader Xi Jinping over the phone discussing a wide range of issues; Trump was said to have re-iterated the United States' commitment to the status quo 'one-China' policy. In a 3 July 2017 telephone conversation with Trump, Xi stated, "China-US relations have made great progress in recent days, but they have also been affected by some negative factors." By "negative factors",
Geng Shuang, a Chinese government spokesmen, explained in a televised briefing: "Under the pretext of navigational freedom, the American side once again sent military vessels into the Chinese territorial waters of Xisha (
Paracel) Islands. It has violated Chinese and international law, infringed upon Chinese sovereignty, and disrupted order, peace and security of the relevant waters and put in jeopardy facilities and personnel on the relevant Chinese islands. It is a serious political and military provocation. The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the relevant actions by the US." The Trump administration labelled China a "strategic competitor" in 2017. with U.S. President
Donald Trump at the
G20 summit in Buenos Aires, December 2018 China enforced punitive tariffs on 128 categories of American goods on 1 April 2018 in retaliation for the
first Trump administration's national-security levies on steel and aluminum imports the previous month. The Chinese Government's response is measured, affecting $3 billion in annual trade or about 2% of U.S. goods exports to China. By late September 2018, the Trump administration had placed tariffs (25% tax increase) on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, in an attempt to offset the trade imbalance between the two major economic world powers. In what put additional strain on U.S.-China relations,
Huawei's vice-chair and
CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on 1 December 2018 at the behest of U.S. authorities. U.S. Senator
Ben Sasse accused China of undermining
U.S. national security interests, often "using private sector entities" to by-pass US sanctions against the sale of telecom equipment to Iran. According to political analyst, Andrew Leung, "China is perceived as the antagonist and rival of the United States," and that China's economic growth is seen as a "threat to the world order underpinned by American dominance or American values." He claimed, moreover, that the arrest of the
CFO of Huawei on 1 December 2018 corresponded with the suspicious death on that same day of a leading Chinese national
quantum physicist and venture capitalist at
Stanford University,
Shoucheng Zhang, who was on a
H-1B visa, giving rise to conspiracy theories. In August 2018, the U.S. government signed an update to legislation for the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., broadening governmental scrutiny to vetting
VC-backed, and especially Chinese state-funded, investments in U.S. tech startups. in 2019. with U.S. President
Donald Trump at the
G20 summit in Osaka, June 2019
Liu He sign the Phase One Trade Deal in January 2020. Both sides signed the US–China Phase One trade deal on 15 January. Unlike other trade agreements, the agreement did not rely on arbitration through an
intergovernmental organization like the
World Trade Organization, but rather through a bilateral mechanism.
Rapid deterioration of relations (2019–2020) Michael D. Swaine warned in 2019, "The often positive and optimistic forces, interests, and beliefs that sustained bilateral ties for decades are giving way to undue pessimism, hostility, and a zero-sum mindset in almost every area of engagement." Foot and King emphasize China's aggressive efforts in developing cutting-edge technologies with significant military and commercial implications, while the United States sees the need to defend itself aggressively against technological theft. U.S. academics have made various policy prescriptions for the United States within the context of its deteriorating relationship with China. According to
Lawrence J. Lau, a major cause of the deterioration is the growing battle between China and the United States for global economic and technological dominance. More generally, he argues, "It is also a reflection of the rise of populism, isolationism, nationalism and protectionism almost everywhere in the world, including in the US." According to Ian Bremmer, the U.S. and China are in a technology cold war and Trump's technology war against the PRC has been his administration's biggest foreign policy win, saying, "on the issue of tech decoupling that it was America out front with most allies on board." According to
Greg Autry, an academic at the University of Southern California, Trump's China policy was working, pointing to increased revenue intakes by the Treasury Department and offshoring by U.S. manufacturing supply chains from China, and crediting the administration for being the first to fully recognize that globalization had not delivered for Americans and that China was an existential threat. Former Obama administration officials
Samantha Power and
Susan Rice have criticized China's actions on trade, over the Meng Wenzhou affair and in Hong Kong while simultaneously criticizing the Trump administration for inadequate pushback. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated a "
China Initiative" to "combat economic espionage". DOJ ended the program on 23 February 2023. No one was charged or convicted of spying in any China Initiative case. The
Director of Policy Planning at the
United States Department of State,
Kiron Skinner drew international attention in April 2019 for stating at a foreign policy forum that the U.S. competition with China would be especially bitter, because unlike the Cold War with the
Soviet Union which is "a fight within the Western family", "it's the first time that we will have a great-power competitor that is not Caucasian". In 2019, prominent Americans, including some with ties to the administration, formed the
Committee on the Present Danger: China (CPDC) to advocate for a more hawkish foreign policy against China. On 29 January 2020, the Interior Department's fleet of more than 800 Chinese-made drones, including those by DJI, were grounded, citing security concerns. On 18 February 2020, the U.S. government announced five Chinese
state media firms would be designated "foreign missions", requiring them to be legally registered with the U.S. government as a foreign government entity. On the following day, China took action against three American journalists with
The Wall Street Journal by revoking their press credentials over a
coronavirus opinion column which their paper had run. A March 2020 article by Reuters said that Washington slashed the number of journalists allowed to work at U.S. offices of major Chinese media outlets to 100 from 160 due to Beijing's "long-standing intimidation and harassment of journalists". In response, China expelled about a dozen American correspondents with
The New York Times, News Corp's Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, which prompted criticism from the State Department. On 8 May, the U.S. moved Chinese citizens at non-American news outlets from open-ended work visas to extendable 90-day work visas and in June the State Department designated a further four Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies. By May 2020 relations had deteriorated as both sides were accusing the other of guilt for the
worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Washington has mobilized a campaign of investigations, prosecutions and export restrictions. Beijing, meanwhile, has stepped up military activities in the contested South China Sea, and launched denunciations of American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and publicly speculating that the American military deliberately unleashed the virus in China. In the growing aspersion, on 15 May 2020, the U.S. blocked shipments of
semi-conductors to Huawei, while China, for its part, has threatened to place
Apple,
Boeing, and other U.S. firms on "unreliable entities" lists, and has blamed the U.S. government of using state power under the excuse of national security, and of abusing export control measures to continuously oppress and contain specific enterprises of other countries.
Orville Schell, the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the
Asia Society, summed up the situation as follows: "The consequences of the breakdown in U.S.-China relations is going to be very grave for the world and for the global economy because the ability of the U.S. and China to work together was the keystone of the whole arch of
globalization and global trade. With that pulled out, there's going to be a tremendous amount of disturbance", often compared to the
Cold War. However
Tony Blair noted there is "an interconnectedness, economically and in trade terms between the U.S. and China that just wasn't there in the US-Soviet Cold War" that makes it an imperfect analogy. He further felt the China-U.S. relations would be the "determining geopolitical relationship of the 21st century." In June 2020,
US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft sent a letter to the U.N. secretary general explaining the U.S. position on China's "excessive maritime claims". On 17 June 2020, President Trump signed the
Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which authorizes the imposition of
U.S. sanctions against Chinese government officials responsible for
detention camps holding more than 1 million members of the country's
Uyghur Muslim minority. On 9 July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, including
Chen Quanguo, a member of CCP's powerful Politburo. A research paper by the
Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies said that Chinese state-controlled media enthusiastically covered the protests and rioting attending the
Murder of George Floyd, comparing the
American protests to the
protests in Hong Kong and used the
rioting and
violence in the United States as evidence that the democratic system was hypocritical and morally bankrupt. A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said that racial tensions in the United States was a key area of focus for "a campaign of cross-platform inauthentic activity, conducted by Chinese-speaking actors and broadly in alignment with the political goal of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to denigrate the standing of the US." In July 2020, the Trump administration
ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston. In response, the Chinese government ordered the closure of the
US consulate in Chengdu. On 20 July 2020, the United States sanctioned 11 Chinese companies, restricting any trade deal with America for what the U.S. government said was their involvement in human rights violations in Xinjiang, accusing them specifically of using Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in forced labor. On 23 July 2020, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the end of what he called "blind engagement" with the Chinese government. He also criticized CCP general secretary Xi Jinping as "a true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology". In August 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on 11 Hong Kong and Chinese officials over what it said was their role in curtailing political freedoms in Hong Kong through the imposition of the
Hong Kong national security law; China retaliated In September 2020 the United States had under a 29 May presidential proclamation revoked more than 1,000 visas for PRC students and researchers visas who the U.S. government said had ties to the Chinese military in order to prevent them from stealing and otherwise appropriating sensitive research. On 26 September 2020, the U.S. Commerce Department put restrictions on Chinese chip maker,
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), following which the suppliers were required to have an export license for exporting the chip. The restrictions were imposed after the U.S. concluded that an "unacceptable risk" equipment supplied to SMIC could potentially be used for military purposes. On 6 October 2020, Germany's ambassador to the UN, on behalf of the group of 39 countries including Germany, the U.K. and the U.S., made a statement to denounce China for its treatment of ethnic minorities and for curtailing freedoms in Hong Kong. province, New York, 2020. The U.S. officially recognized the Chinese government's treatment of the
Uyghurs in Xinjiang
as a genocide. On 9 October 2020, the Department of Justice disallowed the use of its fund to purchase DJI drones, which the DoJ classified as a "Covered Foreign Entity". On 21 October 2020, the U.S. approved
arms sales of $1.8 billion to Taiwan. It involved three packages that included high technology weapons such as SLAM-ER missiles, HIMARS M142 Launchers and Recce Pods. Taiwan welcomed the arms sales and disapproved of the sanctions. Taiwan also said it would continue buying arms from America. On 5 December 2020, the U.S. State Department ended five cultural exchange programs with China, which are - "the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the U.S.-China Friendship Program, the U.S.-China Leadership Exchange Program, the U.S.-China Transpacific Exchange Program and the
Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program." They described these programs as soft power propaganda tools of Chinese government.
Espionage In July 2020, FBI Director
Christopher Wray called China the "greatest long-term threat" to the United States. He said that "the FBI is now opening a new China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours. Of the nearly 5,000 active counterintelligence cases currently under way across the country, almost half are related to China." In December 2020, an investigation by
Axios was published that detailed the suspected activities of Christine Fang, a Chinese national who has been suspected by U.S. officials of having conducted political espionage for the
Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) while she was in the United States from 2011 to 2015. While Fang's suspected activities prior to the Axios investigation had already drawn scrutiny from federal law enforcement agencies, the subsequent reactions to its publication drew further scrutiny from politicians and the media. Xu Zewei and Zhang Yu, Chinese hackers working under the direction of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), conducted cyber intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021, including the large-scale "
HAFNIUM" campaign exploiting Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities. Targeting U.S. universities, virologists, and law firms, they stole COVID-19 research and sensitive communications while operating through the MSS-linked company Shanghai Powerock Network Co. Ltd. In July 2025, under the Second Trump administration, a federal indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of Texas charging Xu and Zhang with conspiracy, wire fraud, unauthorized computer access, and identity theft. Xu was arrested in Italy and awaits extradition; Zhang remained at large.
Biden administration (2021–2025) Following his election, relations with the
new Biden administration in 2021 included heightened tensions over trade, technology, and human rights, particularly regarding Hong Kong, and the treatment of minorities in China. In addition international tensions regarding control of the South China Sea remained high. The Biden administration largely continued the China policies of his predecessor Donald Trump, However, the Biden and Xi administrations agreed to collaborate on long-term projects regarding climate change, nuclear proliferation, and the global COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden, in his first foreign policy address, labeled China as "the most serious competitor" to the US. During his first visit to
the Pentagon on 9 February 2021, Biden urged the
United States Department of Defense to review its national security policy concerning China. In 2021, the Biden administration tightened technology restrictions on China, including designating
Huawei,
ZTE,
Hytera,
Hikvision, and
Dahua Technology as security threats, adding
supercomputing entities to the U.S. Entity List, expanding limits on American investment in Chinese companies tied to the military, and finalizing rules allowing the delisting of non-compliant Chinese firms from U.S. stock exchanges. From March 18 to 19, 2021,
bilateral talks in Alaska took place. Blinken and
national security advisor Jake Sullivan met with
CCP Politburo member
Yang Jiechi and Chinese foreign minister
Wang Yi. The Americans unleashed heated attacks on China's policies regarding human rights, cyberattacks, Taiwan, and its crackdown in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. The Chinese side countered by attacking the U.S's standing in the world and defending China's sovereign rights and model of development. In the week ahead of the talks, the administration met with U.S. allies in Asia and imposed sanctions on senior Chinese officials amidst Beijing's
contemporaneous crackdown on Hong Kong. In June 2021, leaders of the
G7 and
NATO, encouraged by the United States, issued rare unanimous statements condemning China over human rights abuses, threats to Taiwan, unfair trade practices, and lack of transparency on COVID-19. In August 2021, China tested a nuclear-capable
hypersonic missile, highlighting advances in its strategic weapons program and raising concerns in Washington. On August 18, 2021, Biden compared U.S. commitments in Afghanistan and Taiwan, saying that the United States was bound to defend Taiwan, though officials later clarified that policy had not changed. On September 15, 2021, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia formed
AUKUS, a security pact under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British support, a move China denounced as "extremely irresponsible". Biden held his first virtual meeting with Xi on 15 November 2021. On November 24, 2021, the Biden administration invited Taiwan to attend the '
Summit for Democracy' - to be held in December 2021.
China's Foreign Ministry reacted by saying it was "firmly opposed" to the invitation. Later that year, Biden signed a
defense bill strengthening support for Taiwan. In late 2021, the Biden administration announced a diplomatic
boycott of the Beijing Olympics and signed the
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, further highlighting U.S. criticism of China's human rights record. China accused the United States of being responsible for the war in Ukraine. with U.S. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi on August 3, 2022 On 18 March 2022, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping directly communicated with each other for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In May 2022, Chinese officials ordered government agencies and state-backed companies to remove personal computers produced by American corporations and replace them with equipment from domestic companies. Bloomberg said the decision was one of China's most aggressive moves to eliminate the usage of foreign technology from the most sensitive parts of its government and spur its campaign to substitute foreign technology with domestic ones. In late May 2022, the State Department restored a line on its fact sheet on US-Taiwan relations which it removed earlier in the month and stated it did not support Taiwanese independence. However, another line which was also removed in the earlier fact sheet that acknowledged China's sovereignty claims over Taiwan was not restored while a line that stated the U.S. would maintain its capacity to resist any efforts by China to undermine the security, sovereignty and prosperity of Taiwan in a manner that was consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act was added to the updated fact sheet. On June 11, 2022, U.S. Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin condemned China's "provocative, destabilizing" military activity near Taiwan, a day after China's Defense Minister
Wei Fenghe warned Austin that "if anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost." In July 2022, speaker of the house
Nancy Pelosi announced that she would be leading a congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region. She has planned to visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, as well as the island of Taiwan. When
Pelosi visited the island the following month, the act was strongly condemned by China. As a result, China severed ties in all cooperation activities with the United States in several areas, including military matters, global climate cooperation, and drug trafficking enforcement. Later the
State Department summoned Chinese ambassadors to complain about Chinese aggression. China claimed that the Pelosi visit served no other purpose than to provoke China and to deteriorate Sino-American relations while the United States, pointing to past precedent, said that Pelosi had the right to visit Taiwan and attacked the Chinese response as disproportionate. After Pelosi's departure, the PRC began
military exercises encircling Taiwan. On 7 October 2022, the U.S. implemented new
export controls targeting China's ability to access and develop advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing items. The new export controls reflect the United States' ambition to counter the accelerating advancement of China's high-tech capabilities in these spaces to address foreign policy and national security concerns. with U.S. President
Joe Biden at the
G20 summit in Bali, November 2022 On 14 November 2022, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the
G20 summit in
Bali for their first in-person encounter since Biden became president. The meeting lasted for more than 3 hours and they discussed a range of issues which included tensions over Taiwan and North Korea, and the war in Ukraine. (right) with Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi on 9 July 2022. Blinken dismissed China's claims to be neutral in the
Russo-Ukrainian War and accused China of supporting Russia. Some
geoeconomics experts see an acceleration of the US–China rivalry as "inevitable" given the tensions manifested openly in the last months of 2022 and early 2023. In a series of interviews with
BBC News and
Asharq News, Nicolas Firzli, director,
EU ASEAN Centre, argued that "Cold War 2 with China [was] part of the Biden Doctrine, and the only remaining point of convergence between Biden and a Republic dominated Congress [...] January 2023 is the moment when things crystalized irreversibly". On 2 February 2023,
a Chinese reconnaissance balloon was spotted flying over US airspace in the state of Montana, potentially to collect information related to nuclear silos in the area. Two days later, the United States shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean, citing national security concerns. The balloon incident followed previous Chinese government actions targeting the U.S., including the
Chinese theft of the designs for the
F-35 about fifteen years earlier and successful Chinese government-sponsored
cyberattacks targeting the Office of Personnel Management security clearance files (2015), the
healthcare company Anthem (2015), and the
Marriott International system (2018). In 2022, the U.S. and its allies imposed stringent additional
export controls on the sale of "foundational technologies" (including
advanced semiconductor chips and related technology) to China, with the aim of inhibiting any Chinese military buildup. The Beijing government expressed strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US's use of force, calling it a violation of international practice. The U.S. claimed the balloon was a violation of its sovereignty. pilot takes a picture somewhere over the Central Continental U.S.; the
Chinese balloon is in the background. On 11 February 2023, the U.S. Commerce Department prohibited six Chinese companies connected to the aerospace programs of the Chinese army from acquiring U.S. technology without authorization from the government. These six businesses include Nanjiang Aerospace Technology of Beijing; The 48th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation; Technology for Dongguan Lingkong Remote Sensing; Aviation Science and Technology Group of the Eagles Men; Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Technology in Guangzhou; together with the Shanxi Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group. In April 2023, China sanctioned U.S. Representative
Michael McCaul in response to a legislative trip for Taiwanese President
Tsai Ing-wen. In May 2023, an American citizen living in Hong Kong named John Shing-Wan Leung was sentenced to life in prison on charges of espionage. Leung was arrested in 2021 by China's counterintelligence agency. On September 23, 2024, the Biden administration banned Chinese software from U.S. internet-connected vehicles, citing national security risks. This move builds on previous actions against Chinese tech, deepening the digital divide between the two nations.
Attempts to fix relationship (2023–2024) In mid-2023, both countries started to increase meetings between high-level officials in the hope of stabilizing the relationship; on 11 May, U.S. national security adviser
Jake Sullivan met with
Wang Yi, director of the CCP
Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, with the topics including Taiwan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On 21 May, Biden commented during the
G7 summit in Hiroshima that he expected a thaw in relations with China soon, commenting that the two countries were moving towards more dialogue but "this silly balloon that was carrying two freight cars worth of spy equipment was flying over the United States and it got shot down and everything changed in terms of talking to one another". On 26 May, Chinese minister of commerce
Wang Wentao met with U.S. secretary of commerce
Gina Raimondo, where Raimondo raised concerns about treatment of U.S. companies by China. U.S. officials also announced in June that
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director
William J. Burns travelled to China in May. However, a meeting in the
Shangri-La Dialogue between Chinese minister of national defense
Li Shangfu and U.S. secretary of defense
Lloyd Austin failed to take place, after China rebuffed U.S. requests to meet. In late June 2023, Blinken traveled to China and met with Xi; subsequent public statements by both countries were largely positive, with Xi and Blinken emphasizing that both sides have a responsibility to manage relations. However, relations became more contentious after Biden called Xi a "
dictator". meeting with Vice Premier
He Lifeng during Yellen's trip to Beijing, 8 July 2023 The trips further continued as between 6–9 July, United States secretary of treasury
Janet Yellen visited China, her first trip to the country during her tenure as well as the first trip to the country by a U.S. Treasury secretary in four years. During the visit, she met with various Chinese officials, including former vice premier
Liu He, governor of the
People's Bank of China (PBC)
Yi Gang, minister of finance
Liu Kun, CCP secretary of PBC
Pan Gongsheng, vice premier
He Lifeng, and premier
Li Qiang. During her visit to, Yellen criticized China's treatment of American companies with foreign connections, stating to Li Qiang: "We seek healthy economic competition that is not winner-take-all but that, with a fair set of rules, can benefit both countries over time." She also said that the U.S. national security restrictions on investment in China were intended to be narrowly focused and not have broad effects on the Chinese economy. Yellen's visit was followed by a visit by United States secretary of commerce
Gina Raimondo between 27 and 30 August, where she met minister of culture and tourism
Hu Heping, minister of commerce
Wang Wentao, vice premier He Lifeng, and premier Li Qiang. Raimondo also visited Shanghai, where she met with Shanghai Communist Party secretary
Chen Jining, and visited
Shanghai Disneyland. During the meeting, the two sides announced a
working group on commercial issues and an export control enforcement "information exchange" dialogue. The working group, upon its launch on 22 September 2023, was divided into two segments: one economic subgroup and one financial subgroup. with CCP Foreign Affairs Commission Office director
Wang Yi, 28 October 2023 On November 2, 2023, a report from the
Wall Street Journal was released saying that the U.S. and China would hold
nuclear arms talks, a rarity, ahead of Xi Jinping's visit to the United States. At the beginning of November 2023, insiders cautiously expressed hope for a climate agreement between
China and
United States ahead of the
2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, similar to the agreement of 2014 which paved the way for the
Paris Agreement. One contentious topic is a plan for reduction of
methane emissions in China. According to China's climate envoy
Xie Zhenhua "progress on a plan reflected the state of U.S.-China relations." Another is a reduction in
coal use in China. China says it expands coal use for improving
energy security, even though many think there are better ways to improve it. Talks between
Janet Yellen and
He Lifeng yielded a decision to enhance cooperation between China and the United States in several domains, including
climate,
debt relief. Much is expected from the meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping. According to Kate Logan from the
Asia Society Policy Institute, cooperation between the 2 countries, can "set the stage for a successful outcome at the COP28". On 15 November 2023, President Joe Biden met with Xi Jinping at the
2023 APEC Summit in San Francisco. This was speculated to be their last meeting of 2023 before Biden's
2024 reelection campaign. The U.S. and China resumed semi-official nuclear arms talks in March 2024, with China reassuring the U.S. it wouldn't use nuclear weapons over Taiwan and reaffirming its no-first-use policy. Despite broader tensions, both sides plan to continue discussions in 2025. In October 2024 American drone maker
Skydio was sanctioned by China after its products were approved for use by
fire departments in Taiwan. The Chinese government forbade components suppliers and other businesses in China from doing business with Skydio. In November 2024,
John Moolenaar, chairman of the
United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, introduced legislation to revoke
PNTR status for the People's Republic of China. The same month, the
United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission unanimously recommended revocation of China's PNTR status. with U.S. President
Joe Biden at the
APEC summit in Lima, November 2024 On 16 November 2024, Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met on the sidelines of the
APEC summit in
Lima. They discussed stabilizing U.S.-China relations at
APEC summit in Lima, as Trump's return raises concerns over potential trade and Taiwan tensions. Beijing seeks dialogue but braces for challenges. On December 1, 2024, China condemned a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, valued at $385 million, which included F-16 jet parts and radar support. The sale was approved by the U.S. just before
Lai Ching-te began a Pacific tour with stops in Hawaii and Guam. China criticized the sale for encouraging Taiwan's independence and damaging U.S.-China relations, and objected to Lai's U.S. transit, calling him a "separatist." Despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. is required by law to assist Taiwan in defending itself, which continues to provoke Beijing. Taiwan rejects China's claims of sovereignty. After Washington announced more military aid and sales to Taiwan, China called it "playing with fire" and said such actions by the United States contradict the solemn commitments of its leaders not to support Taiwan independence. On 2024, China began an extensive ocean-mapping effort across the Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans using research vessels. While described as scientific surveys, experts note the data could also support submarine operations, raising concerns about strategic and security implications for other countries in key maritime regions.
Second Trump administration (2025–present) with U.S. president
Donald Trump at the
APEC summit in
Busan, October 2025 Following his
second election victory as President of the United States in November 2024, Donald Trump nominated Florida Senator
Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Representative
Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor in his second administration. According to Neil Thomas, a fellow in Chinese politics at the
Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, the selection of Rubio and Waltz—both known as hardliners on China—signals that Trump's foreign policy will prioritize China above all else. Just before
Trump's second inauguration in January 2025, Vice President
JD Vance and ally
Elon Musk each held separate meetings with China's vice president
Han Zheng, who was in Washington attending the event as China's paramount leader
Xi Jinping's special representative. Han's presence at the capitol was seen by commentators as representative of Xi's interest in strengthening the two countries' relationship under Trump's tenure. In March 2025, China denounced
G7 statements accusing it of destabilizing maritime security, highlighting ongoing diplomatic friction. Trump blamed China for the
opioid crisis in the United States. He said the tariffs are intended to pressure China to do more to stop the flow of
fentanyl into the US.
Opioids, predominantly fentanyl, have killed over 500,000 Americans since 2012. On 18 April 2025, the U.S. State Department accused China's Chang Guang Satellite Technology of providing satellite imagery to Iran-backed
Houthi forces, allegedly aiding attacks on U.S. and international vessels in the
Red Sea. Officials described the support as ongoing and "unacceptable", despite prior U.S. diplomatic engagement with Beijing. Under the directive published by the
U.S. State Department in 2025, the
Chinese leader should be referred to as "
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party", rather than "
President of China" reflecting the supremacy of the
party over the state. In June 2025, a majority of
U.S. senators supported
secondary sanctions against Russia over
Vladimir Putin's unwillingness to agree to a
ceasefire in Ukraine, which would impose 500%
tariffs on countries that buy
Russian oil,
natural gas,
uranium and other exports. China is one of the major consumers of Russian energy.
Liu Jianchao, head of the
International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, criticized U.S. Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth during an address at the 13th World Peace Forum in
Beijing, accusing him of promoting "hegemonic thinking" and inciting confrontation. Liu's comments followed Hegseth's call for U.S. allies to strengthen their militaries to counter China and his warning that Beijing was preparing to use military force to alter the balance of power in Asia. Liu rejected these remarks, emphasized China's commitment to "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan, and stated that China would firmly oppose any moves toward Taiwanese independence. The exchange highlighted ongoing tensions between China and the United States over Taiwan, regional security, and broader geopolitical disputes. In October 2025, Trump cited proximity to China's nuclear facilities for demanding Afghanistan the access to
Bagram Airfield which was vacated in 2021. In an interview, he also claimed that China, among other countries, was secretly testing nuclear weapons and that "they don't have reporters" to write about it. While Trump stated that the U.S. would resume nuclear tests, China denied any clandestine nuclear testing. In December 2025, the second Trump administration released its
National Security Strategy. Regarding China, the document calls to "rebalance America's economic relationship with China, prioritizing reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence" but also states "trade with China should be balanced and focused on non-sensitive factors" and favors "maintaining a genuinely mutually advantageous economic relationship with Beijing". It states the US wants to prevent war in the Indo-Pacific, and states the US "will build a military capable of denying aggression anywhere in the
First Island Chain". Regarding Taiwan, the document states that "deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority" and that the US "does not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait". During the
2026 Iran war, Trump warned China not to ship weapons to Iran, warning them that they will have 'big problems' if they do. China rejected the reports that it was sending weapons to Iran. Trump later stated that China agreed not to send weapons to Iran.
Espionage cases During the second Trump administration, the United States saw a series of high-profile espionage and cyber espionage cases linked to the Chinese government. These cases, from the perspective of the United States, illustrate ongoing concerns over the activities of China's
Ministry of State Security (MSS), including efforts to infiltrate U.S. institutions and conduct state-sponsored cyber operations. In March 2025, the U.S. intelligence community's Annual Threat Assessment identified China as the top military and cyber threat, citing its growing capabilities to seize Taiwan, conduct cyberattacks, and challenge U.S. dominance in AI and space.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called China the "most capable strategic competitor", while Beijing released a counter-report accusing the U.S. of long-term cyber espionage.
Cyber espionage In 2025, U.S. charged at least 12 hackers in the month of March alone. The hackers reportedly sold data of US-based dissidents to the Chinese government. In early March 2025, for example, the
United States Department of Justice indicted Chinese nationals Yin Kecheng (尹可成) and Zhou Shuai (周帅) for cyberattacks linked to APT27 (also known as Silk Typhoon). Between 2011 and 2024, they allegedly hacked U.S. defense contractors, tech firms, and government agencies to steal data for profit and on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) and Ministry of Public Security (MPS). Zhou also collected data on telecommunications, border activity, and individuals in media, civil service, and religion under MSS guidance. The case highlighted China's state-backed hacking-for-hire model. U.S. authorities seized related infrastructure and sanctioned Zhou, his company Shanghai Heiying, and previously Yin. In July 2025, the United States Department of Justice charged two Chinese nationals, Yuance Chen and Liren "Ryan" Lai, with attempting to recruit U.S. military personnel and gather naval intelligence on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS). According to the FBI, Lai cultivated Chen as an asset due to his contacts within the U.S. military, and both men met with MSS agents abroad to coordinate their activities. In 2022, they conducted a dead drop by leaving a backpack containing $10,000 in cash in a California locker as payment for intelligence. The charges, filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), highlight growing U.S. concerns over Chinese efforts to infiltrate military institutions and expand naval capabilities. In October 2025, China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) accused the United States of conducting a large-scale cyberattack on China's National Time Service Center. According to the agency, the
U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had launched a series of hacking operations since March 2022, extracting sensitive data by exploiting vulnerabilities in the center's mobile phones and internal networks. According to Chinese state media, more than 42 specialized tools and pieces of malware were used during the operation, and attempts were also made to access the "Precise Ground Timing" system. China's Ministry of National Security warned that intrusions into such infrastructure could disrupt communications, financial systems, energy, transportation, and space launches.
Military espionage In July 2025, Chenguang Gong, a dual U.S.-China citizen and former engineer at a California defense contractor, pleaded guilty to stealing over 3,600 sensitive files related to U.S. missile detection and defense systems. Prosecutors stated he had long sought involvement in Chinese government Talent Programs and attempted to transfer military-grade technology to China.
2025 trade war In April 2025, China imposed a 34% tariff on all U.S. imports, matching the rate introduced by
President Donald Trump earlier that week. The move came after two rounds of U.S. tariffs; each 10%; were implemented in February and March, citing China's alleged role in the fentanyl crisis. In retaliation, China also restricted exports of
rare-earth elements, filed a complaint with the
World Trade Organization, and blacklisted several U.S. firms. Additional measures included suspending imports from American agricultural and food producers and launching an anti-monopoly probe into
DuPont China. Analysts noted this marked a significant escalation in the ongoing trade tensions, reducing prospects for near-term diplomatic resolution. Trump threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods on 9 April if China did not withdraw its retaliatory measure of a 34% tariff on all U.S. goods by 8 April. This would boost the effective 54% tariffs on China on 9 April to 104%. China responded with retaliatory tariffs of 84% on U.S. goods. In response, Trump increased tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% on the same day. However, the White House clarified the next day that the tariff rate had risen to 145%. China, in retaliation, announced an increase in tariffs on all American imports from the previous 84% to 125%, set to take effect on 12 April. The U.S. later announced reciprocal tariffs will exclude consumer electronics from tariffs from most countries, but retained a 20% tariff on electronics from China. On May 10, 2025, Trump declared a "total reset" in U.S.-China trade relations after tariff talks in
Geneva. According to transcripts, witnesses saw both delegations returning after a lunch break to an UN ambassador's villa in Cologny. On 12 May 2025, the United States and China agreed to for a period of 90 days, reduce their tariff rates from 145% to 30% and 125% to 10% respectively by 14 May, while further negotiations take place. Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent stated that the "somewhat stalled" U.S.-China trade talks necessitate direct communication between the leaders of both countries, especially as the U.S. implements technology restrictions on China. In July 2025,
Bloomberg News reported that U.S. President
Donald Trump has softened his hardline tone on China to ensure a summit with
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, aiming to push for a trade agreement between America and China. In December 2025, the U.S. government announced that it would delay the implementation of new tariffs on imports of certain Chinese chips and semiconductor products until 2027. These tariffs were approved as part of a U.S. trade investigation into China's industrial and subsidy policies. However, Washington cited diplomatic considerations as the reason for the delay, aiming to avoid sudden disruptions to global supply chains and to give companies more time to adjust. China opposed the decision, calling it a destabilizing factor in the global technology market. This issue is viewed as part of the broader trade and technology tensions between the two countries in the 2020s. ==Economic relations==