Also: A record Airbus order, Kick v. Amazon, top cities for families. 
Good morning, Peter Vanham here in Geneva, filling in for Alan.
While the U.S. enjoyed a federal holiday yesterday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was working overtime in China, a trip that culminated with a meeting with President Xi Jinping on Monday. Blinken’s visit sought to stabilize U.S.-China relations after years of trade wars, COVID blame, and tension over Ukraine and Taiwan.
The U.S.’s principal goal, observers said, was to get China to help “bring Russia to the peace table in Ukraine,” and to re-open communication lines to prevent “misperception and miscalculation” on other vital geopolitical pain points, such as Taiwan.
Beijing, meanwhile, seemed to have a different rationale for re-engaging with the U.S.: the need to steady its faltering post-COVID economy and address youth unemployment that’s over 20%.
If engaging with the U.S. can help boost Chinese growth and employment, Beijing is all ears. But the U.S. must “respect China and not harm China’s legitimate rights and interests,” Xi told Blinken after their meeting. Taiwan, thus, better not be part of any U.S.-China reset conversation. It is the “most prominent risk” in Sino-American relations, Foreign Minister Qin Gang previously warned.
Many business leaders, too, seem amenable to that deal.
Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and Jamie Dimon returned to China for the first time in four years in the spring. Xi welcomed his “old friend” Bill Gates on Friday to send a message of “hope in the American people.” Ken Griffin of Citadel is the latest U.S. business leader to visit Hong Kong. Others are likely to make the trip later this summer, as Blinken and Qin agreed to increase flights between China and the U.S.
Even so, some businesses have had enough of tensions with China. European pharma giant AstraZeneca started drafting plans to “break out its China business and list it separately in Hong Kong,” the FT reported yesterday. AstraZeneca may be one of the first to ponder such a move, but it won’t be the last. U.S. companies no longer regard China as the primary investment destination it once was, VOA reported earlier this year.
If that trend solidifies, China’s future may not be as bright as it once was. But for now, trade still flows, and where trade goes, so do business leaders.
More news below.
Peter Vanham
peter.vanham@fortune.com
@petervanham
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Airbus order
Indian budget airline IndiGo will buy 500 Airbus planes, the largest order of commercial planes in the history of civil aviation. Plane manufacturers see India as the next big market for jets, as local airlines expand their fleets. IndiGo, India's biggest airline, now has 1,300 jets on order from Airbus. The Wall Street Journal
Streaming deals
The battle for streaming talent is intensifying as Felix Lengyel—who performs under the handle “xQc”—gets $100 million to stream on Kick, a rival to Amazon-owned Twitch. Streamers are attracted to Kick’s more generous terms for creators, yet Kick’s critics argue the platform’s more lax approach to moderation, such as its tolerance of gambling streams, will hurt both creators and fans. Fortune
Family homes
Cambridge, Mass., leads Fortune’s list of the Best Places to Live for Families. College towns like Cambridge give families ready access to high-quality educational and health care resources. This year’s top-ranked places feature amenities that foster tight-knit communities and push back against the loneliness epidemic—the newest public health fear for officials like Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Fortune
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Anticipating the next phase of AI and ML innovation As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to shape industries, new technical approaches are waiting to be explored. This is according to Deloitte’s Q2 Road to Next Report which examines investment trends around AI and ML (machine learning), including dealmaking activity and factors that will be key to the next wave of innovation. Explore these insights and learn why business leaders might want to pay attention as new AI companies enter the expansion stage. Read more.
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