At World Economic Forum meeting in Dalian, Graham Allison says US and China recognise applications of AI may be bad for both of them
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenCao Jiaxuanin BeijingPublished: 6:29pm, 25 Jun 2026Deep-seated structural rivalry and lingering regulatory barriers are likely to limit any durable thaw in China-US ties, even as last month’s leaders’ summit placed a temporary floor under the fragile relationship, an expert from China’s top state-affiliated think tank warns.Speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Dalian on Thursday, Zhao Hai, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), struck a cautious note on the trajectory of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship, saying the current calm remained fragile.“I’m not that rosy about the future because the structural forces are still working,” said Zhao, director of the international politics programme at CASS’s National Institute for Global Strategy.
Last month, US President Donald Trump’s high-stakes visit to China produced few economic deliverables but he and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to build what Washington called a “constructive relationship of strategic stability”.
Even though the meeting restored a degree of stability and helped ease pressure on supply chains, including aircraft engine deliveries, Zhao said it did little to resolve the deeper mismatch between how Washington and Beijing see the relationship.
And while the Trump administration tended to frame ties in transactional terms, Zhao said, Xi approached the talks through a broader global, bilateral and people-to-people lens.
“At this stage, it’s no longer a pure bilateral relationship. It’s a global relationship,” Zhao said at the Dalian meeting, also known as “Summer Davos”.
