Can they dial it back? Blinken in Beijing to stabilise US-China relations

But even that is starting to sour. Foreign investment is slowing as US allies watch Washington employ a carrot-and-stick approach to push key industries to reshore their activity. The United States is not alone.

As the German chancellor hosts his Chinese counterpart for dinner, Olaf Scholz knows that his biggest export market is no longer flavour of the month with EU partners. Voter backlash over decades of outsourcing of jobs and industry to a country that subsidises its key sectors is now met by a "if you can't beat them, join them" approach to state subsidies, both here in Europe and the US.

Are subsidies an overdue response to help level the playing field? Or will decoupling with China fuel those spiralling tensions that Blinken wants to diffuse?

Produced by Charles Wente, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.

>> Read more: New Chinese premier’s visit to Germany, France highlights strained relations with EU

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