👥 Upcoming econVue Panel - The Trump-Xi Summit in Beijing
Subscriber Event with Christopher Balding and Brian McCarthy - May 12, 2026
The Trump-Xi Summit in Beijing May 14-15, 2026
What to watch as Washington and Beijing test the limits of economic détente in the shadow of conflict in Iran and the Middle East
You are invited to an econVue virtual panel discussion on the upcoming Trump-Xi Summit, scheduled to take place in Beijing on May 14–15. The conversation will be moderated by Lyric Hughes Hale.
The meeting comes at a critical moment for US-China relations. Trade tensions, technology restrictions, rare earth dependencies, Taiwan, sanctions, and the widening geopolitical fallout from the Iran conflict are all converging ahead of the summit. Whether the meeting produces a genuine reset or merely a diplomatic pause, markets, policymakers, and allies will be watching closely for signs of how Washington and Beijing intend to manage competition in a more fragmented global economy.
👥 Panelists
Our panel will bring together three sharply informed perspectives on China: Christopher Balding, who spent much of his academic career in the PRC; Brian McCarthy, who analyzes China from a Wall Street and global macro perspective; and Eric Huang, Hale Strategic senior fellow, joining us from Taipei.
Christopher Balding is CEO of Siphtor, a financial data provider based in California, and a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. He spent nine years at Peking University HSBC Business School in Shenzhen and later taught at Fulbright University Vietnam. His work focuses on China’s economy, financial markets, technology sector, and corporate governance. He is widely followed on X as @BaldingsWorld.
Brian McCarthy is the Managing Principal and Chief Strategist of Macrolens LLC. A Harvard-trained economist, he has held senior roles at Alliance Capital, AIG, Barclays, UBS, RBS, and Emerging Sovereign Group, where he managed a China-focused macro hedge fund. He founded Macrolens in 2018 to provide institutional investors with independent research on global macro trends, China, and US-China financial dynamics.
Eric Huang is a senior fellow at Hale Strategic and a recognized expert on US-China-Taiwan geopolitics. He previously represented Taiwan’s Kuomintang Party in Washington, DC, where he worked at the intersection of cross-strait relations, US policy, and Taiwan’s domestic political debate. He is frequently quoted in leading global media, including The Economist, BBC, and Bloomberg. He holds degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS, Harvard Kennedy School, and MIT.
Lyric Hughes Hale is editor-in-chief of econVue and host of The Hale Report. A longtime observer of the Chinese economy and US-China relations, she will moderate the panel and audience Q&A.
