Xi’s Triumphant Year Staring Down Trump Belies Woes in China (1)

For President Xi Jinping, what began as a challenging year is ending on a note of triumph.

China was peerless in confronting Donald Trump’s renewed trade war, wielding its dominance over rare earths to extract concessions on tariffs and export controls. Chinese shipments found new homes outside the US, pushing its trade surplus beyond $1 trillion for the first time. Despite Washington’s curbs, the Asian country’s artificial intelligence firms pressed ahead and its chipmakers raced to the IPO market, buoyed by Xi’s call for technological self-reliance.

On the diplomatic stage, Xi projected strength. Flanked by two dozen foreign ...