Since the G7 Summit at the end of May 2023, ‘de-risking’ has entered the jargon in the evolving debates about great power competition and the intensification of the US-China rivalry. Initially used by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in March 2023, she stated that “Our relations are not black or white – and our response cannot be either. This is why we need to focus on de-risk, not decouple”. The term has increasingly been used by US officials such as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to describe US policy towards China.