Dear Focus Reader,

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be open to a three-way meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to China next month. The proposed meeting would address nuclear weapons and denuclearization, although Beijing has expressed reservations about trilateral arms-control discussions, citing the differences between China's nuclear capabilities and those of the United States and Russia. The possibility of talks comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for another round of leader-level engagement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department proposed new rules to tighten restrictions on American investments in sensitive technologies in China and other countries of concern, including biotechnology, artificial intelligence and advanced computing. The proposal expands Washington's efforts to prevent U.S. capital and expertise from supporting foreign military and technological development. Separately, the U.S. government ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and related services from their IT systems. China's Commerce Ministry criticized the decision, urging Washington to reverse what it called discriminatory restrictions and arguing that the move disregards understandings reached by the two countries' leaders.

China's economic outlook adds another dimension to these tensions. The economy grew 4.5% year over year in the third quarter, keeping it broadly on track to meet its annual growth target. However, weak domestic demand continues to weigh on the outlook, leaving Beijing under pressure to support growth as economic and technological competition with the United States intensifies.

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