The question arises as to what the economic policy of a nation should be in the 21st century: whether it should be based on methods of coercion, blackmail, and rent-seeking in a post-imperial style, or whether it should be built on innovation, scientific and technological progress, comprehensive development, and the common good.
3. {Although the answer to this question seems obvious, in practice it is not always the most acceptable. The administration of the world's largest economy appears to lean towards a model based on coercion. Since the beginning of 2025, numerous political imperatives have emerged from the White House promoting a model where the government directly participates in revenue generation and GDP stimulation by any means necessary.
During a speech following the announcement of mutual tariffs in April 2025, US President Donald Trump stated that the revenues of major American enterprises were 'negligible.' Instead, he focused on the tariffs supposedly collected by his administration, the flow of which is now observed in reverse after the US Supreme Court declared them invalid. Despite attempts to restore customs collection through alternative legal schemes, many other ideas were proposed and rejected. One of Trump's unsuccessful proposals was the idea of imposing a 20% levy on cargo ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Fortunately, not all state policy is reduced to medieval methods. Most countries still believe that true growth is achieved not through quick schemes of enrichment or brute force. The path to development through expanding the boundaries of human ingenuity remains very promising, especially against the backdrop of the convergence of factors such as artificial intelligence and the transition to green energy, which opens up profitable opportunities for advancement.
China demonstrates this most vividly, having achieved numerous breakthroughs in futuristic sectors in a short period. One of the most notable events was the impressive successful recovery of the lower stage of the 'Long March-10B' launch vehicle. This was accomplished using a massive fishing mechanism that captured the returning booster with a new system. The reusable rocket industry was known to have been dominated by one American company—SpaceX—for a decade, which recently held the largest IPO in history, demonstrating the market potential of commercial space. New players with reusable rockets will help further reduce costs, especially considering that AI-based data centers will be launched into orbit in the coming years.
Significant events are also happening on the ground: in addition to the SpaceX IPO, new horizons are being opened by the AI laboratories Anthropic and OpenAI. Three Chinese companies from high-tech industries are preparing for their own listings. Unitree Robotics from Hangzhou, a manufacturer of quadruped and humanoid robots, is preparing an IPO in Shanghai. China's progress in robotics is evident, as demonstrated at the 2026 robot half-marathon, where bipedal robots showed results orders of magnitude better than the previous year and beat the human half-marathon record. Furthermore, the memory chip producer CXMT is preparing to debut on the Shanghai STAR market, which will be the largest IPO in Asia this year amid the global shortage of DRAM chips. Among the AI labs, Moonshot AI is reportedly considering an IPO in Hong Kong. This Chinese AI startup has also attracted attention due to the launch of the largest open-weight model, containing 2.8 trillion parameters. Moonshot's Kimi K3 model is designed to solve complex tasks such as long-context coding, knowledge work, and complex reasoning, and according to some metrics, it surpassed Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol.
In the field of supercomputers, China's LineShine became the world's most powerful, achieving a rate of 2.198 Exaflops/second, marking the first time since 2017 that the US has been displaced from this position. A record was also set in solar energy: a new type of Chinese solar cell reached an efficiency of 28% in steady-state operation. Another area—the first commercial operation using an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) was conducted in China in July on a patient with impaired arm mobility following a spinal cord injury sustained ten years ago in a car accident.
These achievements suggest that China has entered a period of rapid development; however, in reality, this is becoming the norm thanks to a favorable political environment and the readiness to tackle large-scale challenges with proper energy and spirit. This is evident from the list by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) of 30 major scientific and technological tasks for 2026, which includes 10 questions each from advanced science, engineering, and industrial technology, including AI, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and nuclear fusion. These coordinated efforts aim to achieve results. It is projected that China's AI industries will exceed 10 trillion yuan ($1.47 trillion at the current exchange rate) by the end of the fifteenth five-year plan in 2030, and the country's humanoid robot market will grow to $15 billion by 2030. The National Bureau of Statistics of China highlighted this trend toward innovative and high-quality development when assessing GDP growth rates at 4.7% in the first half of 2026.
All of this sharply contrasts with the development associated with the US and its current model of geoeconomic influence. According to the latest IMF economic forecast published in July, global growth in 2026 is projected at 3%, which is 0.1% lower than the April forecast. The growth forecast for the Middle East was particularly reduced by 1.4% to 1.7%. In a report titled 'The World Economy in Times of War and Technology,' the slowdown is linked to the consequences of the war in the Middle East, partially offset by the acceleration of the global technological cycle. The report clearly indicates that instability is detrimental economically, while innovation is beneficial.
Despite this, the US remains an important player on both the axis of instability and the axis of innovation. Prevailing analysis suggests that the US economy would be close to recession if not for multi-trillion investments in AI infrastructure. However, this is merely a coincidence that is little related to current political imperatives, most of which are skewed towards a distorted version of neo-imperialism, while other countries try to stay away.
The U.S. Treasury Department confirmed on Friday that it will not renew the executive order signed in July 2020 during the first term of then-U.S. President Donald Trump. This order had been implemented in response to national security legislation imposed by China to restrict political dissent in Hong Kong.
The revocation of this executive order was welcomed with applause by a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, according to Xinhua agency reports. This minister confirmed the annulment of the executive order this year. He also mentioned that during economic and trade discussions between China and the U.S., held in Madrid last year, the United States made commitments regarding Hong Kong and investments.
The Chinese spokesperson emphasized that maintaining the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong benefits the mutual interests of China and the United States. Furthermore, he observed that the positive adjustment in American policy towards Hong Kong is consistent with the expectations of the international community.
The Chinese representative from the Ministry of Commerce expressed the expectation that the United States will fulfill the reached consensuses and international conventions, respecting China's sovereignty and the rule of law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He requested the reestablishment and strengthening of trade and economic relations with the neighboring city of Macau.
This effort, according to the spokesperson, would help build a relationship of strategic and constructive stability between the two powers. For its part, the Hong Kong Government stated in a communiqué that it has perceived a 'positive change in U.S. policy' towards the city, affirming that 'safeguarding the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong serves the common interests of China and the United States and also aligns with the general expectations of the international community.'
On the same Friday, the Treasury Department spokesperson clarified that the sanctions established by the Hong Kong Autonomy Law of 2020 will remain in effect. This law aims to penalize authorities who promote China's policy of limiting the territory's autonomy, and the decision not to renew the executive order aims to avoid duplication of sanctions.
The original 2020 executive order had been justified by the understanding that Hong Kong no longer possessed sufficient autonomy to receive differentiated treatment compared to mainland China under certain legislations. It was last renewed in July 2025, for a period of one year. China had approved the national security law after the protests of the pro-democracy movement in 2019, which was the most relevant political demonstration in that territory since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
According to a representative of the Ministry of Finance, the decision to restore preferential trade privileges for Hong Kong, which was signed during the first term of US President Donald Trump, will not be extended.
This decision was made in response to China's introduction of the National Security Law aimed at restricting political dissent in Hong Kong. The Ministry of Finance representative, who wished to remain anonymous, specified that sanctions stipulated by the Hong Kong Autonomy Act of 2020 will remain in effect. This law provides penalties for officials promoting Chinese policy to restrict the territory's autonomy and also noted that declining to extend this directive avoids sanction duplication.
Trump's executive order was motivated by the belief that Hong Kong had lost sufficient degree of autonomy to warrant special treatment regarding mainland China under certain laws. The last extension of this order took place in July 2025 for one year.
China adopted the National Security Law following the pro-democracy movement protests in 2019. These protests represented the most significant political expression on the territory since the former British colony returned to Chinese administration in 1997.
The Hong Kong government issued a statement noting that it has observed a 'positive change in US policy' towards the city. The statement emphasized that 'maintaining the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong aligns with the common interests of China and the United States, as well as with the general expectations of the international community.'
