| Hi, this is Philip Glamann in Beijing, where if you listen closely you can hear Chinese diplomats applauding themselves. Well, maybe not literally but they are on a pretty good run, which for them generally means the US is on the losing end. That streak started with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte opening a near Lima that Beijing hopes will one day transform South American trade with Asia. Major obstacles like the Amazon jungle and Andes mountains stand in the way of Chancay port immediately cashing in on South America’s agricultural bounty, especially in Brazil. But the facility epitomizes Beijing’s dreams of strengthening trade with South America — and has already become a target for some in President-elect Donald Trump’s circle.  The APEC summit leaders’ photo, with President Joe Biden in the back corner. Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Xi used his trip to the APEC summit in Peru to portray his nation as a defender of the international trading system, in contrast with Trump, aka Tariff Man. He also seemed to fire off a warning shot at Trump, using a meeting with President Joe Biden to assertively lay out China’s red lines, while leaving the door open to friendly relationship. Read a story about that Xi-Biden sitdown here. A group photo of APEC leaders seemed to illustrate the nice roll Xi is enjoying. In it, he stands front and center, casually smiling, while Biden lurks in the back corner. Never mind that everyone was placed alphabetically, the pic was a good metaphor for Beijing’s growing influence with developing nations. Then Xi traveled to Brazil for the Group of 20 summit, where he again drew a line between China and the US by urging leaders to “oppose unilateralism and protectionism.” The Chinese president had a bit of a tough time with leaders of rich nations — highlighted by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who raised concerns over human rights, Taiwan and the trial of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai. Still, Xi had fairly cordial meeting with Argentina’s Javier Milei, agreeing to deepen cooperation in a range of areas. Such bonhomie seemed unthinkable not long ago because Milei said he’d never cut deals with communists. And in a meeting with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Xi pushed for closer links between Beijing’s signature investment pact and Brazil’s growth strategy — improving a relationship that may wind up irking Trump. Listen to a podcast about the G-20 event showing a realigned world order here. In spite of the challenges Xi faces preparing for Trump, reviving the economy and dealing with European officials annoyed with his support for Russia, these wins in South America show there’s still a lot that could turn in Beijing’s favor. What We’re Reading, Listening to and Watching: Huawei and by extension China have hit a major roadblock in their ambitions to make more powerful chips for AI and smartphones – and they can blame the US. The tech company plans to make it next advanced processors — its answer to Nvidia’s dominant accelerators — around the same 7-nanometer architecture that’s been mainstream for years, according to people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, next year Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. — the chipmaker to Apple and Nvidia — will be cranking out 2nm chips that are three generations ahead. Read our story about Huawei’s chip advances stalling here.  An ad for Huawei’s smartphones in downtown Shanghai. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg Huawei is behind in the tech because US-led restrictions prevent its chipmaking partners from getting their hands on state-of-the-art manufacturing systems from ASML. Read an explainer on the fight over semiconductors here. It means Huawei’s marquee semiconductors will be stuck at aging technology until at least 2026, the people said, asking to remain unidentified discussing a sensitive project. The stall has implications not just for Huawei’s business but also for China’s AI ambitions. On top of that, Huawei’s main production partner, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., has struggled to churn out even 7nm chips at steady volumes. The Shanghai-based firm’s 7nm production lines have been plagued by poor yield and reliability issues, according to another person. Huawei’s struggles show how years of US curbs have scored initial success in freezing Chinese technology advances at current levels, and deprived its national champions of the chance to graduate to the next level. Back in 2023, Huawei famously unveiled its Mate 60 Pro smartphone with a self-designed 7nm chip by SMIC just as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the US’s chief sanctions enforcer, was in Beijing. That cemented its tech credentials in the eyes of the Chinese public, and sales grew on strong demand for that device. Yet one sign of Huawei’s woes now is its silence on the processor powering its upcoming flagship smartphones, which are emerging later than the Mate 60 Pro did. Huawei is set to unveil its Mate 70 next week. But it didn’t advertise any hardware specs when it began taking orders this week. Xi has been pushing China to become self-reliant in tech. That’s proving pretty difficult, for now at least. | 
