Trump is doing China a favour and Xi might just thank the US later

China's industrial policies could well turn into a bigger headache for China's own economy than for the rest of the world

Prospects for a trade deal between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the upcoming Group of 20 meeting in Argentina are quite likely to founder on the question of China’s industrial strategies: While Beijing may be willing to buy more American goods to mollify Trump, it almost certainly won’t stop supporting sectors it sees as key to China’s technological and economic progress.

In fact, China would be much wiser to scale back its industrial policies now. They could well turn into a bigger headache for China’s own economy than for the rest of the world.

On the surface,