Trump-Xi State Visit Spotlights How Much Has Changed Since 2015
As Xi Jinping meets Donald Trump, charts trace China's economic and military expansion since Xi's 2015 meeting with Barack Obama.
When Xi Jinping sits down with Donald Trump for a state visit this week, the encounter will unfold against a markedly different backdrop from the Chinese leader's 2015 meeting with then-U.S. president Barack Obama.
A set of embeddable graphics released ahead of the talks traces the shifts in both countries' standing over the intervening years, covering economic output, trade patterns, shipbuilding capacity and naval strength.
One chart tracks changes in the size of the U.S. and Chinese economies since 2015, drawing on World Bank data. Another examines China's annual goods exports, separating shipments to the United States from those to the rest of the world. The trend it captures is a widening Chinese export base: as trade with other partners has expanded, the U.S. has come to account for a smaller share of China's total exports. The figures are based on UN Comtrade data and material from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
A third graphic looks at commercial seagoing ship construction by country, showing China displacing both Japan and South Korea to become the world's leading builder of commercial vessels. That chart uses UNCTAD data derived from Clarkson Research Services.
The final chart compares the relative sizes of the U.S. battle force fleet and China's principal combat fleet between 2015 and 2023, based on Congressional Research Service figures. It reflects a Chinese naval buildup pursued as Beijing seeks to project power beyond its own borders.
All four charts are current as of Sept. 15, 2026, and are not designed to update automatically.