It’s been a long time coming, but Beijing is finally ramping up economic support to counter the fallout from tariffs.

In this week’s podcast, Trivium Co-founder Andrew Polk and Dinny McMahon, Head of Markets Research, discuss the wave of monetary policy measures rolled out by financial regulators on Wednesday.

• The gents get into the nitty gritty of China’s financial system – with forays into PBoC relending facilities, provident fund mortgages, and insurance companies’ capital requirements – to explain just what officials hope to achieve.

They then round things off with a chat about the latest developments in the US-China trade war, and touch on China’s plan to double down on exports in the years ahead.

Enjoy!

In this week’s podcast, Trivium co-founders Andrew Polk and Trey McArver examine Beijing’s latest thinking on trade tensions with the US – as both sides settle in for a sustained confrontation. The two discuss:

• Whether Beijing has Trump’s number
• The shifting narrative on China’s ability to sustain hostilities
• Conflicting reports as to whether China and the US are actively negotiating
• China’s patient approach to stimulus – with the recent Politburo meeting opting not to provide additional domestic economic support
• The Politburo study session on AI – and how China is trying to position itself globally

As always, there’s lots to chew on!

In this week’s podcast, Trivium Co-founder Andrew Polk is joined again by Cory Combs, Trivium’s head of supply chain research, to unpack the latest US-China trade war twists. The two discuss:

• Friday’s pause in the tariff escalation
• China’s pointed efforts to signal it won’t escalate further
• Whether the pause has staying power
• Why a painful stalemate is still far better than some of the alternatives

The two then examine China’s latest export controls on rare earth elements.

• Cory breaks down the key dynamics, implications for companies, and what to expect next.

In this week’s Trivium China podcast, Trivium co-founders Andrew Polk and Trey McArver unpack the whirlwind tariff tit-for-tat between the US and China over the past week.

The two discuss:

• Whether we are now locked in an unstoppable escalatory spiral
• Possible off-ramps for de-escalation
• How each side is misreading the other
• The best- and worst-case scenarios from here
• China’s likely policy support for the domestic economy amid sky-high tariffs

Buckle up!

In this week’s podcast, Trivium China Co-founder Andrew Polk links up with Trivium Co-founder Trey McArver. The two:

• Pick up on last week’s conversation about foreign businesses in China, walking through Xi Jinping’s big meeting with foreign CEOs on Friday
• Discuss China’s intervention in the Panama port deal between BlackRock and CK Hutchison
• Preview China’s likely response to Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs

Then Andrew speaks with Trivium’s Head of China Tech Policy Research Kendra Schaefer to get into Beijing’s latest efforts to develop flying car technology.

• This one covers a lot of ground – and you won’t want to miss any of it.

This week, Trivium China Co-founder Andrew Polk sat down in Shanghai with fellow Co-founder Ether Yin and Trivium’s Head of Geopolitical Research Joe Mazur to discuss:

• Global businesses in Beijing for the China Development Forum
• The messages Chinese leaders are sending to the business community
• The stark contrast in mood between domestic and foreign businesses in China
• Whether consumer sentiment is finally turning a corner
• Beijing’s latest updates to the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law

In this week’s podcast, Trivium China Co-founder Andrew Polk is joined by Trivium’s Director of China Ag Research Even Pay. 

The two first discuss the biggest policy move out of China over the last week:

·       Beijing’s big new plan to boost consumption this year

Spoiler alert: There’s a lot in the plan, but we’re still skeptical it will be enough to get consumers to pull out their wallets any time soon. 

Andrew and Even then discuss how all the latest moves in the US-China trade war are impacting China’s ag sector – and Xi Jinping’s view of food security. 

·       They also touch on what may be coming next on the ag, food security, and trade fronts. 

Enjoy!

That’s a wrap, folks! The Two Sessions officially concluded in Beijing on Tuesday – just in time for this week’s podcast.

To begin the pod, Trivium China Co-founder Andrew Polk is joined by fellow Co-founder Trey McArver to break down the key policy themes from the meetings – through the lens of Xi Jinping’s itinerary.

• Spoiler alert: It’s pretty much all about innovation.

But wait, there’s more! We round out the pod with a special discussion of the evolving critical minerals race with Lewis Black, co-founder and CEO of Almonty Industries, the world’s largest non-Chinese tungsten miner.

• Lewis joins Andrew and Cory Combs, Trivium’s Head of Critical Minerals and Supply Chain Research, to examine supply chain geopolitics and its impacts on economic and national security.

Needless to say, Lewis has some unique insights to share on:

• How the West became "addicted to the simplicity" of Chinese supply chains
• Why the 2008 financial crisis should have been a wake-up call in the crit-min space
• Why disparities between commercial and national interests mean the US simply can’t build out critical supply chains in the same way China has
• How he would advise the US to approach diversification

You won’t want to miss a minute.

The wait is over: China’s annual policy extravaganza, the Two Sessions, kicked off in Beijing on March 4.

In our latest podcast, Trivium Co-founder Andrew Polk and Dinny McMahon, head of markets research, unpack the key economic targets in Premier Li Qiang’s Government Work Report.

• Given the economic headwinds – sluggish consumer demand, deflationary pressures, ongoing property sector woes, and an escalating trade war with the US – the stakes are high for getting the policy settings right.

The gents kick things off by analyzing the implications of the 2025 GDP, inflation, and budget deficit targets for China’s economic prospects.

• They then dig into the spending and borrowing targets for the year ahead.

Spoiler alert: There are some big numbers, but there’s less here than meets the eye.

Finally, they wrap up with a quick discussion of China’s rapid-fire response to the second round of Trump tariffs.

And this BIG: With this podcast episode, we are officially joining the Sinica Podcast Network. 

• Following Dinny and Andrew's conversation, stay tuned for a follow up conversation between Trivium China Co-founders Andrew Polk and Trey McArver, and the man behind Sinica, Kaiser Kuo.
• It's a great discussion, and we're all excited about the new pod partnership!

The firehose of tech-related China policy developments has been at full blast over the past few weeks.

• And as always, Trivium is here to break down all the latest.

In this week’s podcast, Trivium China Co-founder Andrew Polk is joined by Trivium Partner and Head of Tech Policy Research Kendra Schaefer to discuss:

• Xi Jinping’s recent confab with private-sector tech executives
• What the meeting portends for private companies’ future role in advancing China’s tech ambitions
• The recent bevy of AI infrastructure investment announcements out of China
• How the recent DeepSeek revelation is driving it all
• China’s likely response to Trump’s America First Investment Policy

They also touch on whether “another DeepSeek” is lurking somewhere in China’s AI ecosystem, just waiting to be discovered – and how to find it.

If we do say so ourselves: This one is a can’t-miss, folks.

• We hope you enjoy the discussion as much as we did.
• We’ll have a lot more on all these topics in future episodes.