Richard Yu promises that Huawei will expand satellite connectivity to lower-priced devices, ensuring that it won't be confined to high-end models only. This initiative marks a new chapter in the company's journey, addressing the connectivity struggles that persist due to insufficient mobile network coverage.
China's approach to AI is architecturally different. Where Western tech companies have largely pursued AI as a product category - chatbots, copilots, and standalone tools that can be sold to enterprises - China has treated AI as infrastructure: a utility layer woven into the fabric of commerce, logistics, government services, and daily life.
Friedrich Merz said he saw a "great opportunity" for the industrial exporters, while Xi Jinping called for "enhanced strategic cooperation." China has been courting Western leaders amid Trump's trade tensions. It's Merz's first trip to China since he became chancellor, his predecessor Olaf Scholz visited in 2024.
We have very specific concerns regarding our cooperation, which we want to improve and make fair, said Merz, in an acknowledgement of the strain faced by Germany's manufacturing sector from Chinese competition.
The lowered growth figure reflects China's economic slowdown, triggered in part by the collapse of the country's property sector, which once accounted for between 25 and 30 percent of GDP. The growth target is quite realistic, the Economist Intelligence Unit's China economist Tianchen Xu said, noting the figure reflected China's trend towards more conservative expectations.
While recognizing our achievements, we are also clear-eyed about the difficulties and challenges we face. The government is striving to balance two goals: reviving the flagging economy by boosting domestic spending while also furthering top leader Xi Jinping's ambitions to build China into a global power in AI, robotics and other advanced technologies and one that is not dependent on the U.S. or others for high-end semiconductors and other components.
What we'll see is the trade-off between whether it's going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand. These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping right now.
Open source - that might be the clearest signal of how China wants artificial intelligence to reshape its economy. Hisham Alrayes, the group CEO of Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group, said China is prioritizing open models and broad deployment to spread AI's gains across the economy, instead of funneling them to a few tech giants. Speaking at a Davos panel on China's "AI+ Economy" strategy on Wednesday, Alrayes said the country's approach reflects a fundamentally different economic philosophy.
Addressing Xi in the Great Hall of the People, Carney said that together we can build on the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one adapted to new global realities. Engagement and cooperation would be the foundation of our new strategic partnership, he said. Agriculture, energy, finance, that's where we can make the most immediate progress.
A decade ago, China's political leaders laid out an ambitious industrial plan: By 2025, they pledged, their country would be a world capital, with the goal of moving from "Chinese speed to Chinese quality, the transformation of Chinese products to Chinese brands." This is the difference, they wrote, between "Made in China" and "Created in China." At WIRED, we never take what the government (ours or anybody else's) says at face value.
China's "indispensable role" in the world has been praised by Taoiseach Micheál Martin during a face-to-face meeting with president Xi Jinping this morning in the capital Beijing. Starting a four-day visit to the country in a bid to deepen economic ties between Ireland and China, the Taoiseach met with the Chinese leader, key ministers and members of the Politburo, during which Mr Martin told the delegation that Ireland believes "in open trade" and a "rules-based multilateral order".
When meeting United States President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in September, Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, opened a briefcase with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif standing next to him. Inside were a set of glistening minerals. Their display was part of Pakistan's latest offer to the Trump administration: The country was willing to open up its minerals to US investment.
China's official discourse centres on the idea of peaceful rise, the commitment to non-interference in internal affairs, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and economic partnerships based on mutual benefit. Beijing insists that relations with Washington should not slide into conflict, calling for a system of global governance built on cooperation rather than confrontation. Yet the geopolitical landscape reveals a wide gap between this discourse and reality. Donald Trump's return to the White House has brought back rhetorical escalation and increased geopolitical pressure.
Your visit this time has drawn a lot of attention. Sometimes good things take time. As long as it is the right thing that serves the fundamental interests of the country and the people, then as leaders we should not shy away from difficulties and we should press ahead. As long as we take a broad perspective, rise above differences and respect each other, then we will prove ourselves able to stand the test of history.
Of all countries, China should appreciate the need to stop Mr. Maduro from smuggling these illicit drugs into the U.S., killing tens of thousands of Americans. China experienced this in the Opium War of 1839-1842, when Great Britain forced opium on China, despite government protestations, resulting in the humiliating Treaty of Nanjing, ceding Hong Kong to Great Britain. Mr. Maduro was violating U.S. laws, in a conspiracy to aid enemies and kill innocent Americans.