In the U.S.-China rivalry, one has a slight edge. AI is a wild card.

Teresa Rivas, Barrons
1 min read25 Sep 2026, 07:18 PM IST
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President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping meet in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Summary
For a sense of how the U.S. and China measure up against each other, take a look at four essential costs, writes Louis-Vincent Gave.

President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping puts a spotlight on the precarious U.S.-China relationship and how the two countries are grappling with matters from artificial intelligence to national security. With technology and geopolitics rapidly evolving, it might seem difficult to envision how either of the competing nations might gain the upper hand.

Nonetheless, argues Gavekal Research CEO Louis-Vincent Gave, some clarity can be gained by examining the financial burden each country faces for four essential areas: capital, labor, energy, and government. By Gave’s math, most of these have shifted in China’s favor, but that doesn’t mean investors have to count out the U.S. just yet.

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