China is sending a clear message to investors: we're not backing down. On a rare five-day press tour, the Chinese government rolled out a lineup of AI, robotics, and biotech firms to show the world what its tech industry can still achieve — with or without access to top-tier American chips. Magiclab Robotics, for example, says over 90% of its humanoid robot components are made in-house. The rest? Standard chips, mostly sourced domestically or internationally — but not from the U.S. Meanwhile, AI player AISpeech has scaled from a team of ten in Cambridge to more than 700 researchers in Beijing and Suzhou, signaling a deep commitment to localized R&D. Even amid tightening U.S. controls, companies are leaning into self-reliance and playing long-term offense.
That backdrop matters because Donald Trump is once again using technology exports as leverage — this time tying U.S. chip tools to rare earth magnet negotiations with Beijing. In return, China has moved to restrict those same rare earth exports, a subtle but strategic countermove. A new agreement between the U.S. and China now codifies supply terms, though neither side appears ready to fully de-escalate. Tech leaders like Huawei's Ren Zhengfei suggest that even without Nvidia's latest AI accelerators, Chinese firms can still compete through techniques like chip stacking — not a one-to-one replacement, but potentially good enough. There's also been a quiet shift away from U.S.-based services: China blocks most major American AI tools, giving domestic platforms a wider runway to grow.
But while the tech tour projected confidence, funding pressures are real. IASO Biotherapeutics chairwoman Zhang Jinhua was blunt: U.S. policy is hurting capital flow, and she's told her team to stop waiting for the “winter” to end. For now, they're treating winter like it's here to stay. The bigger takeaway for investors? China isn't collapsing under U.S. pressure — it's adapting. And fast. But the road ahead could stay rocky, especially for firms that need advanced chips or foreign capital. This new phase of U.S.–China tech rivalry may not be about winning outright — it's about who can endure longer and innovate smarter under constraint.
