Ep 17 - Trivium Markets and Politics - Xi Jinping's innovation obsession + the critical minerals race

That’s a wrap, folks! The Two Sessions officially concluded in Beijing on Tuesday – just in time for this week’s podcast.To begin the pod, Trivium China Co-founder Andrew Polk is joined by fellow Co-founder Trey McArver to break down the key policy themes from the meetings – through the lens of Xi Jinping’s itinerary.Spoiler alert: It’s pretty much all about innovation.But wait, there’s more! We round out the pod with a special discussion of the evolving critical minerals race with Lewis Black, co-founder and CEO of Almonty Industries, the world’s largest non-Chinese tungsten miner.Lewis joins Andrew and Cory Combs, Trivium’s Head of Critical Minerals and Supply Chain Research, to examine supply chain geopolitics and its impacts on economic and national security.Needless to say, Lewis has some unique insights to share on:How the West became "addicted to the simplicity" of Chinese supply chainsWhy the 2008 financial crisis should have been a wake-up call in the crit-min spaceWhy disparities between commercial and national interests mean the US simply can’t build out critical supply chains in the same way China hasHow he would advise the US to approach diversificationYou won’t want to miss a minute.