Event Recap: 2025 Future of U.S. and China Conference - Under Renewed Pressure
Event Recap With Images

Explore our online gallery for a vast selection of additional pictures by clicking here. Images by Wild Horse Productions.
On January 16, 2025 Asia Society Northern California hosted its seventh annual all-day U.S. & China Conference: The Future of U.S. & China: Under Renewed Pressure. This full-day event, took place in San Francisco, and featured leaders in business and trade, government, academia, and journalists exploring the complex and evolving relationship between these two global powers. The event provided a diverse range of perspectives on various topics, including China's domestic economy, U.S. security and trade outlook, business relations, and Ambassadors on navigating U.S.-China relations. This year we also hosted private roundtables on people-to-people relations, investing in China, and technology competition and collaboration. Sponsors also participated in an Exclusive Roundtable with Ambassador Kevin Rudd. We have captured the public conference on video and will be sharing it here and on our YouTube channel in the coming weeks, along with photos. With a total of 30 speakers and 11 discussions, we will be posting one video per week. Be sure to subscribe to our channel and stay tuned for the release of these informative discussions.
VIDEOS
What will China Policy from the Trump Administration Look like? - Perspectives on National Security and Diplomacy
The panel on national security and diplomacy was moderated by James McGregor Chairman, Greater China, APCO Worldwide and featured Anja Manuel, Co-Founder and Principal, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, and Daniel Russel, Vice President, International Security and Diplomacy, Asia Society Policy Institute. This panel began by covering where China’s military stands today in relation to technological advancements, strategic priorities, and leadership. Speakers also discussed the new leadership in the Trumpadministration, discussing U.S. strategy towards China in relation to partnerships, alliances, and technology competition. Relations between Russia, China, and North Korea were also highlighted, with speakers testing the extent of the partnership with no limits between China and Russia. Panelists ended on the importance of intentionality in U.S. leadership in supporting partners and treading carefully in navigating competition and rivalry with China.
What will China Policy from the Trump Administration Look like? - Perspectives on Economic Security and Trade
This second panel on economic security and trade was moderated by James McGregor, Chairman, Greater China, APCO Worldwide and featured Wendy Cutler, Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute; Managing Director, Asia Society Washington, D.C. Office and Elissa Alben, Vice President and Head of Global Trade and Innovation Policy, Pfizer. This panel started with a discussion of President Trump’s tariff policy and the unknowns surrounding negotiation settlements, product coverage, and China’s response for the future of bilateral trade. Other than tariffs, the importance of market access restrictions, investment controls, and data restrictions were also raised in the context of how the private sector would be affected from both the U.S. and China side. Panelists ended the discussion by iterating the codependent nature of U.S.-China trade relations given supply chains and joint ventures, and the continued “roller coaster” that many can expect for the future of trade and economic security between the U.S. and China.
