Presidents Trump and Xi prepare to talk trade, tariffs and tech

Ed Butler (0:01)

The world's two top leaders are meeting in Washington. What should Trump do?

SPEAKER_2 (0:06)

He has a choice to make. Once again, bend the knee to the CCP, or to stand up to Xi.

Ed Butler (0:12)

Or will US-China love break out instead?

Henry Wang (0:16)

I think they have a lot of practical things to do, you know, get rid of the tariff of 30 billion on each side. If both countries can work together, we're going to see a better world ahead.

Ed Butler (0:25)

A presidential get together here on World Business Report from the BBC World Service.

Yes, I'm Ed Butler. And as President Xi lands in Washington, as we speak, we're raising the curtain on this week's long-awaited US-China summit. Also in the show, law enforcement gathers in Cambodia to consider the global scourge of international scam centres. And why McDonald's, the king of the beef burger, is now betting heavily on chicken instead.

So, more or less, right now, the leaders of the world's two biggest economies are meeting at Andrews Air Base in Washington for crucial talks, trade, tariffs, technology, all high on the agenda. The US and China have spent months trying to steady what's been a turbulent relationship in recent years, and what emerges this week could have huge consequences for businesses around the world. But with tensions still simmering over everything, from critical minerals to advanced technology, can they find common ground? China is investing heavily to build in computing power right now. It needs to compete with the US after all in the AI race. Much of that investment is happening far from China's major cities, in places like Inner Mongolia, where vast new data centers are being built to power the country's ambitions. Our China correspondent, Laura Bicca, has been there.

Laura Bicca (1:54)

To build the infrastructure that is desperately needed for AI in Mongolia is key because it has vast amounts of wind and solar resources. And that's why China has chosen to build its AI data centers here, at remarkable speed.

Buildings have risen out of the farmland in a matter of months, built by construction workers from all over the country.

Ed Butler (2:23)

This has been a $75 billion investment.

It doesn't do much good for us locals. They need educated people. They don't need that many workers. For me, I can only do some hard manual labor.

Laura Bicca (2:45)

This country has fewer data centers than the US for now. But this hub is a way of catching up.

If China is going to lead the world in artificial intelligence development, this is where it is building the engine room that will drive that change. Just a few months ago, this corner of Inner Mongolia was farmland. Now, dozens of data centers have sprung up for the likes of Huawei and others. There is no sign that China is slowing down on this technology. There has been little opposition to data centers here, unlike in the West. But there are still some quiet skeptics.

SPEAKER_5 (3:28)

If they demolish the village for a data center, it won't be good. I prefer living by the farmland.

Laura Bicca (3:36)

President Xi has set the direction, and will feel that in the long term, China can compete with the US on this technology. His government is focused on securing an AI-powered future, even as some of its people wonder whether they'll be part of it.

Ed Butler (3:54)

The BBC's Laura Bicca reporting there from Inner Mongolia. Well, Riva Gujong, who covers China for the consultancy Rhodium Group, told my colleague Luke Wilson a little earlier what she believes each side is wanting from this week's meeting between the two presidents.

Riva Gujong (4:10)

First, on optics, I think Beijing is coming into the summit with a message that the Global South is with China and that it rejects US dictated rules, that the world has lost trust in US security guarantees, and that the Global South wants Chinese technology to modernize its economies. On the other hand, you have the US on the optics side trying to shape a narrative that, no, the world is with the United States in arguing that China's trade imbalances, that it's imposing on the world, is deindustrializing the world's most advanced economies, and this has to stop. Fundamentally, when these two leaders meet, there's not a whole lot of substance coming out of the summit itself. I see it more as a test of guardrails.

Luke Wilson (4:59)

And we've heard both countries talking about AI a lot recently, the losses of companies like Anthropic calling for guardrails and regulation, putting that in the spotlight. They are the two biggest AI players. Could we see anything like cooperation or a way forward on that, do you think?