This report is from this week's CNBC's The China Connection newsletter, which brings you insights and analysis on what's driving the world's second-largest economy. You can subscribe here.

The big story

China is closing out 2025 with far more confidence on the world stage than at the start of the year.

It was the first major economy to retaliate against U.S. "Liberation Day" tariffs, and has increasingly played the rare earths card. Its tech companies overcame U.S. chip restrictions and released low-cost artificial intelligence models that rival far pricier offerings from the U.S., such as those from OpenAI. Global perceptions of China are improving .

Whether the broader Chinese economy exudes the same level of confidence is less clear.

The country's top leaders are expected t

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