“During Trump’s first term, China was constantly put off balance by his pressure tactics,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of state under President Joe Biden and now chairman of the Asia Group, an advisory firm in Washington. “This time, Xi wanted to be prepared. He knows Trump wants a good relationship with him and respects strength, not concessions.”

The most powerful example of the new strategy came early this month when Washington and Beijing were trying to finalize the South Korea summit. Just when relations seemed on the mend, Xi dropped a bombshell: He directed his government to hit back at a recent U.S. export-control action—and do so with unprecedented force, according to the people close to Beijing.

On Oct. 9, China’s Ministry of Commerce unveiled broad restrictions on exports of rare-earth materials that threaten to upend global production of everything from phones, laptops and cars to missiles. China produces around 90% of the world’s refined rare earths.

Publicly, Chinese officials said the move was simply a tit-for-tat response to a new U.S. rule extending restrictions on tech sales to any companies at least half-owned by an already blacklisted Chinese entity. In reality, the people close to Beijing said, it was also Xi’s attempt to gain leverage before meeting Trump, who has shown a desire to strike a broad economic deal with China.