China Decode: The Trump-Xi Meeting That Could Reshape the Global Economy

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

Vox Media Podcast Network

Business, Careers, Entrepreneurship

4.4 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Trump heads to Beijing this week for one of the most consequential U.S.-China meetings in years — with trade wars, Taiwan, AI, rare earths, and the fallout from the Iran conflict all hanging over the talks. Alice Han and James Kynge break down what Trump and Xi really want from the summit, why China may have more leverage than many in Washington realize, and how Beijing quietly used globalization to accelerate its technological rise. They also unpack a striking new study showing Chinese investors heavily targeted research-intensive firms across Europe and North America — raising a bigger question: did the West help build the competitor it’s now trying to contain? Plus, Xi Jinping’s military purge is intensifying. China has handed suspended death sentences to two former defense ministers as Xi continues reshaping the PLA ahead of a more dangerous geopolitical era. They discuss why Xi is trying to build a world-class fighting force while simultaneously hollowing out large parts of its leadership. Also: China Decode will be LIVE this Friday at 10AM ET on Prof G Plus with Kevin Xu to break down the first day of the Trump-Xi talks and what comes next. Subscribe to China Decode on Substack for weekly analysis, livestreams, and deep dives into the biggest story shaping the global economy: chinadecode.profgmedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:10.7	This is all about vibes.
1:11.6	The Chinese understand this very, very well, and they are willing to play the positive moon music for Trump coming in because he needs to score a real foreign policy gain and he will try to do that in Beijing with nothing really substantive.
1:26.6	Maybe a Chinese promise to increase
1:29.0	ag purchases and Boeing purchases coming out of the summit. Welcome to China Decode. I'm Alice Han.
1:39.4	And I'm James King. In today's episode of China Decode, we're discussing the most consequential Trump-She meeting yet,
1:47.4	how China's quietly absorbing Western innovation and why Xi keeps purging China's top military leadership.
	...

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