The US-China Podcast

The pool of top AI talent is limited, but they play a crucial role in building this transformational technology. More than half of the world's top AI researchers come from China, but not all of them stay there. In 2022, 46% of top global AI talent was working in the United States and 27% in China, but by 2025 that changed to 34% in the United States and 41% in China. What can the United States do to attract and keep top AI researchers? 

Damien Ma joined us on October 15, 2026 to explain the importance of people in the U.S.-China AI competition. 
Click here to watch the video and learn more about the speaker.

Over the past year, China-related products, aesthetics, and digital content have gained traction in the United States, from Chinese New Year marketing campaigns and consumer brands to memes, shopping apps, tourism videos, and C-dramas. This growing visibility marks a notable shift from the intense Sinophobia that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid heightened geopolitical tensions. 
On August 5, 2026, Rebecca Fannin and Shaoyu Yuan discussed with Michael Berry whether these cultural influences can significantly reshape how Americans understand and relate to China. 
About the program: https://www.ncuscr.org/event/a-cool-cute-china-chinese-cultural-influence-in-the-united-states/

China's center-local relationship is one of the clearest signals of where the country is headed. Beijing sets broad, nationwide goals while provinces, cities, and counties decide how to carry them out. Drawing on cases from high-speed rail, the electric vehicle industry, and population policy, this conversation examines how local governments bargain to advance projects they favor while resisting objectives they do not.

On September 16, 2026, Samantha Vortherms and Xiao Ma discuss how the central government governs from the top through tools such as cadre rotation and inspection teams, and why some localities move faster than others. They also ask who bears the cost when leaders move on, leaving debts and unfinished projects behind. The balance between the center and localities is shifting under Xi Jinping, raising the question of what this means for China's future development. 

Click here to lean more about the speakers.

By 2025, China had twice as many college students as the United States, four times as many STEM graduates, and double the number of STEM Ph.D.'s. In Higher Education in China, Gerard A. Postiglione examines the world's largest state-directed higher education system within the complex interplay of China's social, economic, and geopolitical ambitions.  
Dr. Postiglione describes the tension between domestic imperatives and global aspirations. As China aims to cultivate a world-class higher education system by 2035, it faces three formidable challenges: graduate employment, equitable access, and governance reform. How do both elite Chinese research institutions and rapidly expanding second- and third-tier colleges navigate these pressures amid a shifting landscape shaped by urban-rural inequality, labor market demands, and technological disruption?  
In an interview conducted on August 20, 2026, Dr. Gerard Postiglione joins Margot Landman to discuss how China's evolving academic system may influence its long-term trajectory and, perhaps, the global order of knowledge and innovation. 
About the program: https://www.ncuscr.org/event/higher-education-in-china-domestic-demands-and-global-aspirations/

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday life in China, shaping how people learn, work, communicate, and interact with technology. How are these experiences shaped by generation, geography, and access to digital technology? This conversation will explore AI's impact across Chinese society, from education and digital literacy to the future of work and workforce adaptation. 

On September 29, 2026, Silvia Lindtner and Selina Xu join Louise Matsakis to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping everyday life, education, and society in China as well as how China's approach to AI regulation compares with developments in the United States.
Click here to learn more about the speakers.