The founder of Huawei has stated that the United States is overestimating the capabilities of the Chinese chip manufacturer, even as trade negotiations, including export controls, continue between Beijing and Washington.

In a rare interview with China’s state-run newspaper People’s Daily on Tuesday, Ren Zhengfei said that Huawei’s Ascend chip, the main domestic rival to Nvidia’s products in China, is “still one generation behind the US.” He added, “The US is overestimating Huawei’s capabilities; we are not that strong yet.”

Ren’s comments follow recent warnings from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about Huawei’s advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Huang argued that Washington’s restrictions on the US chipmaker’s sales to China have inadvertently created a “formidable” competitor, threatening America’s dominance in AI technology.

The US and China began a new round of trade negotiations in London on Monday, with Washington’s export controls on key technologies on the agenda.

During the initial round of talks in Geneva, the US did not bring up export controls. However, Beijing’s recent restrictions on certain critical rare earth elements and minerals used in automobile manufacturing, which threaten to shut down factory lines in the US, Europe, and Japan, have pushed the issue to the forefront of trade discussions.

Huawei has benefited from Washington’s ban on Nvidia chip shipments to China, as Chinese tech giants have accelerated their purchases of Ascend chips and made preparations to adopt Huawei’s technology.

Still, most Chinese AI companies, including DeepSeek, rely on Nvidia chips to train the large language models (LLMs) that power their AI tools. For less complex tasks, such as inferencing models to generate responses in tools like chatbots, domestic alternatives are increasingly being used.

Analysts and Huawei researchers have previously noted technical difficulties when using the company’s chips to train LLMs, citing challenges in getting the chips to work together and distribute the computational workload effectively.

On Tuesday, Ren implied that the company has made significant strides in resolving these issues, stating that Huawei can “compensate” for lower performance through cluster computing, which links multiple chips to boost AI server power.

“By using clustering and stacking, our computing results are comparable to the best in the world,” he said.

Ren mentioned that Huawei invests 180 billion yuan ($25 billion) annually in research and development, with 60 billion yuan dedicated not to product development but to basic research aimed at groundbreaking discoveries.

He also noted that China possesses distinct advantages in developing its technological capacity.

“Artificial intelligence depends on abundant electricity and an advanced network infrastructure,” he explained. “China’s power generation and grid systems are world-class. Our telecommunications infrastructure is one of the most advanced in the world.”

Japan and the US held an “Extended Deterrence Dialogue” at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on June 5-6.

In an annual display of nuclear strength, US government officials showed their Japanese counterparts a fleet of B-52 strategic bombers at the Louisiana air base.

The first Extended Deterrence Dialogue of a potential second Trump administration took place last Thursday and Friday at Barksdale Air Force Base, the headquarters of the Air Force Global Strike Command. Photos from the visit were released on Monday.

The Global Strike Command in Louisiana oversees all of the Air Force’s bomber forces, including the B-52, B-1, and B-2 wings. The strategic bomber is the most flexible leg of the nuclear triad and the most visible deterrent when deployed near adversaries.

Since 2022, the allies have been holding dialogue meetings at key sites of America’s sea, air, and land-based nuclear triad to demonstrate the US nuclear umbrella against countries they have declared adversaries, such as China, Russia, and North Korea.

The continuation of this tradition, potentially into a second Trump term, reassures the Japanese side that the importance of extended deterrence remains unchanged.

These visits to strategic locations began in June 2022 with an inspection of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) USS Maryland at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia.

The following year, the Japanese delegation closely examined a B-2 stealth bomber at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

Last year, the Japanese observed several intercontinental ballistic missiles at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, where they learned about the special procedures before a nuclear missile launch.

A press release from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday consisted of a single sentence: “Japan and the US held an Extended Deterrence Dialogue at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on June 5-6, 2024.”

The talks were established as a formal dialogue mechanism between the two governments in 2010 and are held regularly. The stated goal is to build a mutual understanding of deterrence, including nuclear capabilities.

During the dialogue, the two sides typically discuss the regional security environment and exchange views on the alliance’s defense posture, nuclear and missile defense policy, arms control, and risk reduction.

The talks included officials from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense, as well as members of the Self-Defense Forces and the Embassy of Japan in Washington. The US side was represented by officials from the Department of State, the Pentagon, and the military.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced that the Chinese economy will grow by 4.3% next year, lowering its previous forecast by 0.1 percentage points in light of ongoing global trade conflicts.

The Paris-based group stated that “significant trade barriers” and “diminished confidence and increased policy uncertainty” are exerting downward pressure on global economic growth rates this year and next. It noted that the global slowdown trend will be most pronounced in China, Canada, Mexico, and the US.

The 38-member OECD’s outlook report this week follows US President Donald Trump’s imposition of double-digit tariff increases on imports from many countries this year. Most of the targeted countries are in Asia, with the largest increases aimed at China.

The OECD’s outlook report stated that China’s exports “will be constrained by newly implemented tariffs,” while imports will fall as production becomes increasingly localized. The report said, “Tariffs will disproportionately affect private companies, including foreign firms that are major exporters.” The US absorbed 13.5% of China’s direct merchandise exports last year.

The OECD added that China’s consumption is negatively impacted by “still-high precautionary savings due to the trauma created by the pandemic and the correction in the real estate sector,” despite support from this year’s durable goods trade-in program.

The report noted that China’s infrastructure investment is “stable,” while consumer price inflation is “low” and producer prices are trending downwards. The OECD did not change its economic growth forecast for China for this year, keeping it at 4.7%. Authorities in Beijing are targeting economic growth of “around 5%.”

Trump’s highest tariff increases, including those targeting China, have been suspended pending the conclusion of US negotiations with individual countries. However, other tariff increases, which the US leader said were implemented to address unfairness in America’s foreign trade balance, have already taken effect.

The OECD report warned that further “fragmentation” of trade, including new tariff increases and retaliatory measures, could exacerbate the growth slowdown and disrupt cross-border supply chains in large parts of the world.

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said, “The global economy has entered a more uncertain path from a period of resilient growth and falling inflation.” Inflation is expected to persist, especially where “trade costs are significantly high” or labor markets are tight.

The report projects the US economy will grow by 1.6% this year and 1.5% next year. These figures are below the 2.4% forecast for this year made in December and the 2.1% projection for 2026. According to OECD estimates, the global economy will grow by 2.9% this year and next. This is below the 3.3% forecast for both years made in December.

Song Seng Wun, an economic advisor at Singapore-based financial services company CGS, said, “On the surface, the OECD’s forecast is a reasonable one that takes into account the imposition of tariffs and retaliatory measures that could affect business confidence. This situation can affect your employment and investment decisions.”

The OECD projected that India will be the only major economy in the G20 group to record growth above 6% this year and next. Indonesia, one of the G20’s top-performing countries, is expected to grow by 4.7% this year and 4.8% next year.