The bigwigs at the Chinese politburo may also feel that they are not be able to wait over an entire year without a trade deal. The agreement that was just signed, by the way, is but one segment of a much larger package. This one, dealing with IP theft and piracy, could easily be a way of looking like something is moving forward, while on the Chinese streets nothing changes.
Got all that, but the Chinese have no reason to give an inch over the next 10 months if they don't want to. Their trade surplus has been reduced, but still stands at something like $285 billion. In otherwords, they could hold out IF they thought there was a chance of Biden was getting in. We all acknowledge this is Phase I, and the tough negotiations are still in progress.
