In 2023, smartphones-to-silicon conglomerate Huawei quietly released its flagship Mate 60 Pro handset. The launch, while muted, was worth celebrating in the People’s Republic: the device featured a made-in-China chip that had previously seemed out of reach amid crippling U.S. sanctions. Late last month, Hangzhou-based startup DeepSeek added the latest technological surprise by claiming to have trained a large language model on a par with the offerings of OpenAI and Meta Platforms at a fraction of the cost.

There is no simple route to valuing China's Xiaomi . The company, best known for its smartphones and internet-connected rice cookers, air purifiers and other gadgets, began selling electric cars last year. That helped power its market capitalisation to a record high of $117 billion earlier this month. But a look under the hood suggests valuing Xiaomi's different parts can get messy.

In the past five years, the world economy has weathered disease and war. As Donald Trump prepares to take office again, the range of possible outcomes is wider than ever. Hefty sovereign debts and pum...