The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

China Decode: The World Now Views China More Favorably Than the U.S. (ft. Selina Xu)

July 21, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In May 2025, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to build a "constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability." Just a few months later, Trump accused China of interfering in the 2020 U.S. election—a claim Beijing dismissed as "entirely fabricated." That tension sits atop a startling shift in global opinion: Pew polling now shows that 46% of people worldwide view China more favorably than the U.S., and more countries express confidence in Xi than in Trump. This episode of China Decode unpacks what is driving that reversal and what it means for the superpower rivalry, then turns to Selina Xu—head of China Research for former Google CEO Eric Schmidt—for a deep look at how Chinese AI companies are racing ahead despite chip constraints, and why public attitudes toward AI in China and the U.S. could not be more different.

The Trump Factor and the Opinion Reversal

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (02:14) **Market Check & Week Kickoff** - Shanghai composite up 0.85%, CSI 300 up 1.53%; PBoC keeps record-low rates unchanged for 14th consecutive month.
  • 2 (02:44) **Trump Alleges China Interfered in 2020 Election** - China's foreign ministry calls the claim "entirely fabricated" and aimed at vilifying China, threatening the superpower truce established in May.
  • 3 (04:45) **Will the Election Allegation Sink the Superpower Truce?** - Analysis of the May 2025 Xi-Trump summit agreement on "constructive strategic stability" and whether this allegation undermines it.
  • 4 (08:46) **Pew Polling Shock: China Now Viewed More Favorably Than the U.S. Globally** - 46% of people worldwide have a more favorable view of China versus the U.S.; 36 of 36 polled countries favor China.
  • 5 (12:00) **What's Driving the Global Sentiment Shift?** - Hosts argue the main variable is Trump, with China's relative stability and "cool hand" playing to its advantage.
  • 6 (17:58) **Interview Begins: Selina Xu on the AI Race** - Selina Xu, head of China Research for Eric Schmidt, joins to discuss the latest in Chinese AI.
  • 7 (18:44) **The Pace of Chinese AI Releases is "Perishable"** - Any lead is temporary; the frontier moves extremely fast (DeepSeek V4 in April, GLM-5 in June, Kimi in July).

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Alice Hann James King

Show Notes

Alice Han and James Kynge start with Trump's claim that China ran an influence operation using voter files from over 220 million Americans, and why Beijing is calling it fabricated. They dig into what the underlying intelligence actually shows, how it lands just two months before Trump's planned visit to China, and what it means that global public opinion is now tilting toward Xi over Trump.

Then, Selina Xu, head of China research for former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, joins to talk about her recent trip to China with Schmidt, where the U.S. and China each have the edge in the AI race, how culture and adoption differ between the two countries, and whether Beijing's pushback against emotional dependence on AI is a sign of things to come.

Subscribe to China Decode on Substack for weekly analysis, livestreams, and deep dives into the biggest story shaping the global economy: chinadecode.profgmedia.com.


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