U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term in office by reigniting the trade war with China
China's average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them
The initial tariff was 20 percent. Punishment, in part, he said, for Beijing not doing enough to stop fentanyl from entering the U.S
It increased to 34 percent on Trump's so-called Liberation Day and peaked at 145 percent after Beijing retaliated in kind
China doesn't want a trade war, but we are not afraid of one
In China's manufacturing heartland, the pain was acute. Exporters scrambled to find new markets, but trade uncertainty resulted in job losses
In May, talks in Geneva brought some relief. Officials announced a 90-day pause, with Washington rolling back duties on Chinese goods to 30 percent
and Beijing dropping its levies to 10 percent. But tensions simmered. Trump threatened to revoke the visas of Chinese students and targeted Chinese companies with export restrictions
In October, Beijing announced what U.S. officials called a bazooka, sweeping controls on rare earth metals
Countries worldwide worried about their access to the minerals crucial to the production of everything from appliances to weapons, a supply dominated by China
Trump threatened to raise tariffs again. But a meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional economic summit in South Korea calmed hostilities
I always believe that China's development goes hand in hand with your vision to make America great again
China's suspended export controls resumed its purchases of American farm products and agreed to sell the U operations of social media app TikTok So who won the trade war Some say President Xi won this round He refused to yield to Trump tariffs and showed a willingness to weaponize the world dependency
on rare earths. The United States has not figured out that it cannot just simply dominate China
Relations have stabilized, but 2026 may bring more turbulence. Donald Trump is expected to visit Beijing in April
but those plans could be derailed by disagreements about U.S. support for Taiwan
and what Washington says are unfair economic practices. The trade war may be on hold, but the rivalry between the superpowers is still strong
Katrina Yu, Al Jazeera, Beijing. Zichin Wang is research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization
and you're joining us, sir, from Beijing. So after almost a year of Trump's second term, I want to ask you a question that was raised by our correspondent in her report
How does China assess its trade war with the U.S.? Does it feel that it is winning or has won
Well, thanks for having me. Glad to join you from Beijing. I think now we are at the last day of 2025
And it was it is very clear that in this year where the Trump administration, including on its liberation day, unleashed tariffs for including its partners across the world
And China was probably the only country in the world that stood up to the economic pressure
to the waves of tariffs, and successfully leveraged its own, you know, strength
and basically fought the United States to a standstill to a quite fair result And China the Chinese officials its people didn go to Washington to drop on their knees and back President Trump for you know for a deal or something
So, yes, at the end of the 2025, I think China emerged and the Chinese people generally share this feeling that it didn't lose in any, you know, economic trade war
And China safeguarded and stood firm on its dignity. The U.S. is the biggest economy in the world
So when they flex their economic muscle, as you said, most countries have to fold
China didn't. China is the second biggest economy in the world. What would you say China's main leverage is
Well, I think from a, you know, just as your report showed
that China basically utilizes its strengths in rare earth and in its related industries
which is crucial for U.S. manufacturing, for its industrial-military complex. And secondly, I think Beijing made preparations
because in the first Trump administration, which is around 2017, 2018, if you compare the Chinese exports
the U.S. as a direct destination of Chinese exports, it has slumped
So during these years, China basically diversified its export destinations. destinations and also made many investments into, you know, strategic industries. So China prepared
itself. And I think thirdly, it's the sense of patriotism, of not, you know
kowtowing to a foreign power. So there is a strong will here. So if I have to summarize
I think these three things count a lot China takes a long approach to building power in fact to most things but building economic power building military power and so on What is the long vision for relations with the United States
I think if we are looking ahead to, for example, the year 2026
basically people are saying there could be as many as three meetings between the Chinese
president and the US president. First, President Trump is very eager to visit China
So the visit will probably take place in April. And then there will be a G20 meeting in the United States in Florida
And then in November, China will host the annual APEC meeting. So there will be three meetings, likely three meetings between the two presidents
And history has shown that when the two presidents met, they kind of acted like a stabilizer of bilateral ties
And in recent months, I think not just President Trump, but also including Secretary of State Michael Rubio, who used to be very hawkish on China
He recently told a State Department press briefing that, you know, the U.S. needs to work with the Chinese Communist Party productively
And I think from the Chinese perspective, it is about defending its national interests
But it wants a, you know, a peaceful coexistence, wants a win-win relationship, wants a peaceful, a harmonious world where, you know, the Chinese can do business with not just the United States, but also with the rest of the world
Because turbulence, chaos, you know, conflict between the two largest economies in the world, you know, it harms the interests of the two peoples, but also creates a lot of headaches for everyone else in the world
So that's not something the rest of the world want to see as well
Zichen Wang joining us from Beijing. Thank you very much. Thank you