Xi's Shanghai trip, his first to China's main international financial hub since November 2023, comes at a time when the tariff fight with the U.S. has raised the stakes for global economic growth, and as Beijing pursues AI development in the wake of the global success of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.

The view that the Chinese leadership was desperate to negotiate a trade deal, to avoid economic pain that could destabilize Chinese society and threaten the Chinese Communist Party’s monopoly on power, is common among China hawks in the United States. This analysis is partly accurate, but it has led many to draw false conclusions.

The United States and China are unlikely to see a rapid hit to their credit ratings from a trade war, S&P Global's top sovereign analyst has said, with damage more likely concentrated on poorer countries and those already on downgrade warnings.