The Sino-US trade war continues to escalate. In recent weeks, Chinese propaganda has seemingly employed a tough stance, demonstrating that China has the wherewithal to engage in a protracted war of attrition with the US. However, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting on April 25th to discuss "coordinating domestic economic work with international trade struggles" and adopting "more proactive macroeconomic policies" to address the current economic situation, highlighting the potential negative impact of the tariff war on China. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have reportedly lifted retaliatory tariffs on US products, including semiconductors, ethane, leased passenger aircraft, and medical equipment.
On the 24th, a Wall Street Journal commentary titled "Xi Jinping Seeks to Raise China's 'Pain Threshold,' Preparing for a Protracted War with Trump" noted that censorship and surveillance are among the tools the Chinese Communist Party relies on for its long-term rule. Under Xi Jinping's rule, the scale and sophistication of China's stability maintenance mechanisms are rapidly expanding.
Commentators pointed out that compared with 2018, when the last Sino-US trade war broke out, China's economic growth rate was close to 7%. However, China's economy has deteriorated a lot in 2025. This year's economic growth rate is estimated to remain at around 5%, but this figure is still considered to be overestimated by the outside world.
The commentary pointed out that despite the continued sluggishness of China's economy, many signs show that China still emphasizes its intention to adopt a protracted war of attrition in its external propaganda, and Xi Jinping is also full of confidence in this.
On April 10th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning shared a historical speech by Mao Zedong on X. It was a 1953 speech during the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea": "In the past, it was Truman, and in the future it will be Eisenhower, or some future American president. They will fight as long as they want, until complete victory."
Chinese media reported extensively on the 25th that data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the 24th showed that China had canceled 12,000 tons of purchase orders for American pork. Bloomberg News noted on the 24th that this was the largest pork order cancellation since 2020.
In addition, Chinese officials have repeatedly denied that they have conducted tariff trade negotiations with the United States.
But behind the official tough propaganda attitude, the issues of concern at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on the 25th showed that the impact on the general people's livelihood and economy, as well as social stability, have caused concerns among senior leaders.
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting on the 25th. Xinhua News Agency reported that the meeting analyzed and studied the current economic situation and economic work, and emphasized the need to "coordinate domestic economic work with international economic and trade struggles." It also stated that "we must step up the implementation of more proactive and effective macroeconomic policies, make good use of more proactive fiscal policies and moderately loose monetary policies." "We must lower the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates at the appropriate time, continuously improve the policy toolbox for stabilizing employment and the economy, ensure that established policies are implemented and effective as soon as possible, promptly introduce incremental reserve policies based on changing circumstances, strengthen extraordinary counter-cyclical adjustments, and make every effort to consolidate the fundamentals of economic development and social stability."
The meeting also emphasized that "we must focus on protecting people's livelihood. For enterprises that are severely affected by tariffs, the proportion of unemployment insurance funds returned to stabilize employment will be increased." This shows that enterprises that are severely affected by tariffs have greater unemployment problems.
How long will China's tough stance last? According to multiple sources, China's 125% retaliatory tariffs on the United States are showing signs of easing recently.
On the 25th, Bloomberg quoted anonymous sources as saying that the Chinese government is considering suspending the 125% tariff on some US imports because the current trade war has brought heavy economic burdens to some industries.
Sources familiar with the matter said Chinese authorities are considering removing additional tariffs on some industrial chemicals, including medical equipment and ethane. This is because China imports most of its high-end medical equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound machines, from the United States. Ethane, an essential raw material for Chinese plastics manufacturing, is also largely imported from the United States.
The report also mentioned that aircraft leasing is also included in the tariff elimination. This is because Chinese airlines do not buy all aircraft outright, but many pay lease fees from third-party companies. Therefore, these tariffs will cause huge economic losses to airlines.
CNN also followed up with a report, citing three Shenzhen companies as saying that in addition to the above products, China has also secretly canceled the 125% retaliatory tariffs imposed on some US-made semiconductors.
According to customs data, China imported $11.7 billion worth of semiconductors from the United States alone last year.
Although China is currently actively developing its semiconductor industry, it is still highly dependent on imports from the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands.
