American commission finds China’s AI advantage

Beijing urges peace talks over Iran; changes to national security laws in Hong Kong and Macau

Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.

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The China Development Forum concluded on Monday in Beijing. The annual two-day forum is when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) presents its economic priorities and investment opportunities to foreign business leaders as well as Chinese officials, economists, and academics.

During the forum, Li Qiang, Premier of the PRC, announced that Beijing intends to increase its imports of high-quality foreign goods in order to promote more balanced trade after a record trade surplus in the PRC’s favour. In January, Beijing noted the world’s largest-ever trade surplus, at an eye-watering US$1.19 trillion (£890 billion) for 2025.

The record proved that the PRC managed to divert its goods away from the United States (US), with whom it was embroiled in a trade war for most of last year. But Beijing managed to soften the blow of the trade war by diverting many of its goods to Latin America, Europe, and Africa, and now many governments in these regions are facing pressure from local manufacturers to decrease imports from the PRC in specific sectors. This spurred Li Qiang to address the trade balance at the global-facing forum in Beijing.

Other news over the past week on the PRC’s foreign policy largely feature Iran and amendments to the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong, which I discuss below. However, an amendment was also made to the equivalent NSL in Macau, which local lawyers claim goes against the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration that saw Macau handed over to the administration of the PRC in December 1999.

Welcome back to Observing China.