And in the US, Chinese startups continue to keep their presence known in Silicon Valley. Our reporter Ge Yunfei has more on how they're forging valuable ties with their American counterparts.

Every day, Bill Shao drives his Tesla to work. From big name companies to his own start-up, he has been working in California's Silicon Valley for 22 years. But now, he is working for a Chinese company e-commerce giant Suning - in its research & development center in the heart of Silicon Valley.

BILL SHAO DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, SUNING USA R&D CENTER "There is a growing demand for engineers to bring new innovative products back to China. And I think being able to create these products here in the Silicon Valley, you will come up with unique things and bring it to the market in China."

This hologram prototype is one of those 'unique things' Bill is talking about and it has an important role in the unmanned retail stores Suning envisions for the future.

BILL SHAO DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, SUNING COMMERCE USA R&D CENTRE "By adding hologram, we can have an assistant that you can interact with and be able to get information from him or her about anything of the product."

Suning says setting up a Silicon Valley branch offers the company exposure to the most cutting-edge and innovative technology.

TANG JIE GENERAL MANAGER, SUNING COMMERCE USA R&D CENTRE "In the headquarters, we have 7000 thousand engineers, but here we only have 40 people, but actually these 40 people are our core innovation engine."

Many Chinese companies like Suning, face a challenge of increasing their brand awareness in the US. In 2014, a young Chinese woman graduated from Columbia University and saw a market niche. A year later, Pingo Wu founded Red Cube in Silicon Valley, making social-marketing videos for Chinese companies that have global ambitions.

PINGO WU FOUNDER, RED CUBE "Only young people can do this. It's about internet marketing and selling. We know where the targeted customers are and what they like. And most importantly, we have dreams and passion, we're willing to try our best."

One of Red Cube's most important functions is to introduce Chinese startups to Silicon Valley, especially the investors here.

JOHN URIBE HEAD OF VIDEO PRODUCTION, RED CUBE "One of our clients is called the One Highlight Piano. And we did a crowd-funding video for them. And they were able to reach like 180% on their crowd-funding pages."

In three years' time, Pingo's company has grown from 3 people to 75 employees, and moved from a small office to a 750-square-meter work space.

GE YUNFEI SILICON VALLEY "From manufacturing to technology, more and more Chinese firms are going into the American market. And they're craving for a closer relationship with the US customers. And some startups like Red Cube are helping them to do that."

But the outlook is not totally clear. Chinese investment in the US totaled $1.8 billion for the first five months of this year - according to data from the Rhodium Group research firm. That's a 92% drop compared to the same period in 2017. Though Pingo said her video business is booming faster than ever, she has made some changes. With US President Donald Trump promoting his "made in America" agenda, Pingo decided to get in on the manufacturing end of business, rather than just promoting the products of others.

PINGO WU FOUNDER, RED CUBE "It's a new type of partnership. Recently we just invested in a Chinese kitchen-ware company to become their shareholder. Now we're building a factory in the US to manufacture their products on American soil. So we're responsible for the whole chain from manufacturing to marketing in the US."

With the escalating trade conflict between China and the US, Pingo's manufacturing-to-marketing model may find a new win-win solution for small business and workers in both countries. Ge Yunfei, CGTN, in Silicon Valley.