China doubles down on AI and tech innovation as Trump ratchets up trade pressure

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — The undercurrent of China's annual parliamentary meetings this week is U.S. trade tensions — and how Chinese technology is offsetting that pressure.

The largely ceremonial gathering of delegates in Beijing this year came just as U.S. President Donald Trump addressed Congress and imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods. It's a clear drag on exports, while Chinese companies have only faced tougher restrictions on accessing high-end semiconductors and other advanced tech.

«Internationally… an increasingly complex and severe external environment may exert a greater impact on China in areas such as trade, science and technology,» Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in his annual report on government work at the opening ceremony of the National People's Congress on Wednesday, according to an official English translation of the Chinese.

It was an unusually grim assessment at least among the seven parliamentary meetings I have attended. But I also sensed a greater willingness to support the private sector than in the past — especially as it relates to tech innovation, such as with Chinese AI company DeepSeek.

«We will promote the healthy and well-regulated development of the platform economy and give better play to its role in inspiring innovation, expanding consumption and stabilizing employment,» Li said in the work report.

That marked the latest signal that Beijing now wants to support the private sector after previously taking a far more restrictive stance and imposing large fines on tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, often called «platform“ companies in China. Many companies and industries in China have historically been dominated by the state.

DeepSeek's recent rise demonstrated to many international investors — who had