CHANGE: Silicon Valley Is Beating Washington to China Decoupling.

According to data from research firm PitchBook, U.S. investors participated in deals worth $7.2 billion in China’s tech industry last year, down from its recent peak of $35.6 billion in 2018. The number of deals also fell to its lowest level in five years. Market intelligence firm S&P Global, which published similar figures, blamed a cocktail of China’s strict zero-COVID policy, the resulting supply chain issues, and escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington “causing some investors to proceed with caution.”

A Shanghai-based lawyer who advises both U.S. and Chinese investors and spoke on condition of anonymity said investment on both sides in each tech sector “fell off a cliff” in the second half of the Trump administration, estimating that the pullback is “90 percent political.”

Even with former U.S. President Donald Trump gone, that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

Plus: “On the ground in Silicon Valley, the schism has been widening regardless of whether Washington acts or not.”

Well, business tends to act more quickly and with a lot more foresight than government does — because it has to.