China’s tech industry relieved by Biden win – but not relaxed
- Trump’s four-year term has already taught China’s tech industry the importance of self-reliance
- China would likely decline in terms of Biden’s policy priorities, as he focuses first on domestic issues
China’s technology industry, one of President Donald Trump’s main targets in Washington’s tussles with Beijing, hopes Joe Biden can create a more constructive relationship – but few think the rivalry will de-escalate, executives and analysts say.
Trump’s four-year term has already taught the industry the importance of self-reliance, and China’s intentions to improve its domestic tech capabilities will not change, they said.
“When Biden takes office, tech companies in China might be relieved,” said Fang Xingdong, director of the Consortium of Internet and Society at the Communication University of Zhejiang.
“At least, the United States is supposed to re-advocate openness, re-respect fair competition, and re-advocate innovation,” Fang added. “However, in the hi-tech field, competition and game theory will not end, and China and the US will compete with each other with true innovation capabilities in the next decade.”
Chinese tech giants Huawei Technologies to TikTok owner ByteDance to Tencent Holdings have seen their supply chains upended or global expansion efforts stymied by sanctions issued by the Trump administration after Washington accused them of being national security risks.
Several other Chinese firms have been cut off from US suppliers by a trade blacklist while ByteDance and Huawei, in particular, have been pushed into a corner by the Trump administration.