From the very beginning of his speech, Manuel Valencia urges against adopting a Eurocentric perspective when trying to understand China. A country that not only represents 20% of humanity but is also a civilization with more than five millennia of history. In this context, Valencia explains, «The People’s Republic of China is another era of this millennia-old civilization» and, as such, has its own particularities.

The government of Xi Jinping, the current President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, has promoted an ideology based on the Chinese Dream, with strong nationalism and a vision of restoring China as a great nation without abandoning its own principles. Domestically, Xi Jinping has weakened the country’s collective leadership by extending the maximum tenure of presidents and has slowed the gradual separation between the state and the markets.

However, the most significant break between Xi Jinping and his predecessors can be seen in foreign policy. Unlike his predecessors, who argued that China did not need external engagement, the current president recognizes the crucial role of trade and international investments for the country. His strategy focuses on investing in infrastructure projects abroad in exchange for raw materials to fuel China’s economic growth, which has surged from 5% of global GDP to 17% in just two decades.

Xi Jinping is now prioritizing technology as the key to economic growth. As Ambassador Manuel Valencia explains, China’s decline in the 19th century was due to a lack of technological advancement compared to its competitors. Now, “the country wants to develop its own technology to avoid reliance on foreign suppliers,” as is the case with U.S. semiconductors, which China must import.

“The confrontation between China and the United States is political and is perceived more strongly in the U.S. than in China,” states Ambassador Valencia. The current decoupling between the two nations breaks with the diplomatic ties established in the 1970s when Nixon and Kissinger engaged with China to isolate the Soviet Union. According to Valencia, tensions among U.S. elites stem from the fact that China’s integration into the global economy did not unfold as they had anticipated. As the world’s leading exporter, China maintains a massive trade surplus with the rest of the world, particularly with the United States.

China, for its part, is working toward a dual circulation economic model—one that enables self-sufficiency while also maintaining a strong position in the global market.

Regarding the outcome of this rivalry, Valencia asserts that it will depend on which country manages to isolate the other more effectively. However, he also believes that both nations will eventually come to the negotiating table and reach an agreement based on spheres of influence. In a modern China, transformed into an economic giant, such an agreement must be based on mutual adaptation rather than American hegemony.

Sofía Alfayate
Communication Assistant, INCIPE