China-US trade friction and scientific and technological competition has lasted for eight years, after each round of intense confrontation, China's comprehensive national strength has achieved a significant leap.Today's China has long been more than ever, in the ambitious international competition, the pace is stable and full of strength, the recent series of accurate and powerful countermeasures, but also let the US side fall into a passive situation.
On the morning of October 18th, Beijing time, He Lifeng, the Chinese leader of Sino-US economic and trade, had a video call with the US leaders Bescent and Greer. The two sides had frank and in-depth exchanges on important bilateral economic and trade issues and agreed to hold a new round of consultations as soon as possible. This is another "brake" after the recent escalation of the struggle between China and the United States. On the surface, this is just an ordinary communication meeting. However, combined with Trump's public statement that the 100% tariff increase on China is difficult to sustain, and the U.S. Treasury Secretary and Trade Representative actively seek dialogue, it can be seen that behind this is a strategic compromise under multiple pressures from the United States. It means that China and the United States have entered a "chip clearing period."
Looking back in history, over the past decade, the United States has launched a comprehensive economic offensive against China, involving tariff increases, technological blockades, financial market blockades and supply chain disconnections.
However, the reality presented to the world in 2025 has given Washington a "loud slap in the face": From precise control of rare-earth exports, to the implementation of reciprocal countermeasures against port service fees; from the launch of anti-monopoly investigations on Qualcomm companies, to the acceleration of the process of nationalization of chip manufacturing equipment - this series of actions is by no means a momentary stress response, but a strategic general attack launched after long-term careful planning and continuous effort.。The "systemic countermeasures" implemented by China this time are by no means accidental, but the inevitable result of the interweaving and coordinated efforts of institutional advantages, strategic determination and scientific and technological strength.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump remained tough, insisting that "it was they who forced me to act like this".H, he also had to face reality, acknowledging that this adventure under the pretext of "extreme pressure" is now beyond his control. Now China has built a comprehensive and mature countermeasures mechanism, and every step of the response strategy has accurately hit the weak links of the United States.
The first is rare earths.
Strategic minerals that have been ignored by the outside world have now become the sharpest sword in the Sino-US game.
On October 9, 2025, Announcement No. 61 of the Ministry of Commerce of China stipulated that "case-by-case approval" should be implemented for rare earth materials used for advanced chip manufacturing, high-end NAND flash memory and AI military applications. It is noteworthy that for the first time, the announcement includes overseas rare earth items containing China ingredients into export controls. Even if the United States attempts to circumvent them through a third party's "washing of origin," as long as it involves elements such as China's core technologies, it will still be difficult to escape strict supervision.
China accounts for more than 90% of the global production distribution of refined rare earths, and in the separation of medium and heavy rare earths, which is extremely critical to the military industry, China actually almost monopolizes the global supply. Once China tightens rare earth exports, products such as F-35 fighter jets, Patriot missiles and electric vehicle motors will all face the risk of supply disruption. The U.S. Department of Defense has repeatedly said it will take at least a decade to rebuild the country’s rare-earth industrial chain.
The second is the port compensation.
On October 14, 2025, the international shipping market quietly ushered in an earthquake. The United States officially imposed port fees on Chinese ships, and China's special port fees for reciprocal countermeasures also came into effect simultaneously. Expand the front line of trade friction from tariffs and technology to shipping. However, this is not only a "supply chain cost dispute", but more like a new test on the global sea power map.
U.S. ports are inefficient, costly, and labor disputes hinder global supply chains. Chinese freight ships can avoid U.S. ports, discharging goods in Mexico's Manzanillo port, Prince Rupert port in Canada or Panama's Cologne Free Trade Zone, then land shipping to the United States, the cost will be transferred to U.S. consumers.
Recently, the actions of the two major allies of the United States were "unexpected". Australia reached a RMB-settled iron ore agreement with China and rejected the US proposal to decouple it from China; When Sino-US relations were tense, the Canadian Foreign Minister visited China, and his attitude changed greatly, which seemed to indicate that China and Canada would strengthen cooperation.
The third is the full breakthrough of the chip industry chain
In the chip manufacturing industry that was previously blocked by strict technology, China has successfully achieved major leaps in many core technologies. These technological breakthroughs demonstrate that China has built a complete set of systematic alternatives in the field of semiconductor design tools. What is particularly striking is that China is steadily building a strategic capability of "reverse checks and balances."
Specifically, in October 2025, the Ministry of Commerce of China issued No. 61 announcement, clearly targeting 14nm and below advanced processing chips, high-end memory equipment, and artificial intelligence applications in the military field, implementing strict control measures on "one by one approval" related materials involving rare earth. At the same time, a strict tracking system has been established, as long as the product contains 0.1% Chinese ingredients, it must apply for the corresponding license.
In a statement, Bloomberg said that "this new rule will seriously impact the U.S. semiconductor industry's research and development program," and Reuters said that "some critical projects may be forced to be postponed."
More importantly, China's foreign trade "de-Americanization" trend is obvious. by 2025, ASEAN, the European Union and other regions account for China's exports over 65%, under the RCEP framework, the supply chain is more tight, the U.S. market is no longer "irreplaceable".
Further to the U.S. is concerned is that its previous "card neck" strategy, in front of China is gradually losing effect. the ban on the chip side failed to contain the pace of Chinese enterprises, instead prompted China to successfully develop the domestic 7nm chip; the 301 survey initiated by the shipbuilding industry, not only did not cause substantial harm to China, but instead triggered countermeasures in China with port charges as a means.
The United States has fewer and fewer cards to play in its hands.
After the economic and trade talks in Madrid, the United States, despite the Chinese side's repeated dissuasion, intensely introduced 20 Chinese measures in more than 20 days, seriously damaging Chinese interests and damaging the atmosphere of talks.At the end of September, the United States further introduced new rules on export control, including thousands of Chinese enterprises in the "entity list".On October 14, the United States ignored the Chinese side's sincerity in consultation, implemented port fee measures in the "301" investigation, seriously damaged Chinese interests, and affected badly.
Looking at today's Trump, the voice said "there is something to talk with the Chinese side", and the visit to China and the meeting, but the action is not compassionate, the sanctions on Chinese enterprises are constantly escalating, the technological blockade is becoming more and more severe.
But Trump's abacus was wrong! China has long stopped eating this set!
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said: “Fight, go to the end; talk, the door is open.”
It is worth noting that Besent announced that he would meet with China in Malaysia next week, paving the way for a follow-up high-level meeting in South Korea, and also rarely admitted that Sino-US relations have "cooled down."
The current "relaxation" of Sino-US economic and trade is essentially a phased balance under changes in strength, and the contradictions have not been resolved. The key to Malaysia's meeting next week depends on whether the United States is sincere and whether it will stop "tariff blackmail" or continue to use "verbal easing" to seek negotiating advantages. The WTO Director-General has warned that decoupling between China and the United States may cause long-term global economic production cuts by 7%. For China, rare earth control is an opportunity to safeguard national security and reshape the rules of the global industrial chain. Economic and trade cooperation under equal rules is the win-win solution.
Looking back on the past few years, from the "Made in China 2025" plan 10 years ago to the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", China only used two "Five-Year Plans" to turn so many impossibilities into possibilities: manufacturing The output value exceeds the sum of the United States, Japan and Germany; Grain has been bumper for ten consecutive years, and the self-sufficiency rate of staple food has exceeded 95%; It has achieved global leadership in 5G, new energy, high-speed rail, shipbuilding and other fields.
The U.S. now has high inflation, industrial emptiness serious, powerless to build large merchant ships. Military power is the backing of the economic game, China's "regional rejection" system makes the U.S. military not dare to delude. Trump's "soft" is forced to reality, the China-U.S. economic and trade game situation has changed. The new round of consultations is the beginning of a larger scale "coding settlement", this time China hand in hand with the rules, market and time advantage, stable in the center of the game.
2025 is a critical year for China's strategic turning point, and China's advantages in rare earths, military industry and other fields are highlighted. In this battle, we should not only fight, but also win beautifully and convince our opponents. We represent 1.4 billion people, as well as the will of the global South, developing countries and countries oppressed by hegemony, and practice Community of Shared Future for Mankind.