Daily Buzz: 31 October 2025

China, US Agree to Ease Trade Friction

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, after a 90-minute meeting in South Korea on Thursday, agreed to roll back some tariffs and trade barriers that have flared tensions.

China's Ministry of Commerce said the agreement calls for the US to reduce a fentanyl-related tariff, continue a suspension of 24 reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports, pause investigations targeting China's shipping and logistics industries, and delay a blacklist expansion that could affect some 20,000 Chinese companies. Trump said the accord calls for China to suspend tighter export controls on rare earth minerals for a year, resume buying US soybeans and take stronger steps to curtail exports of chemicals used in making illicit fentanyl.

Trump also said the agreement leaves an overall average tariff rate of about 47 percent on Chinese imports, and he said the meeting didn't cover the sale of Nvidia's advanced AI Blackwell chips to China, which had earlier been signaled.

US to Resume Nuclear-Weapons Tests After 33-Year Moratorium

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will immediately resume nuclear-weapons testing for the first time since 1992, citing the need to keep pace with other nations. The announcement follows Russia's announcement this week that it has successfully tested a Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo and a week after it tested its new Burevestnik nuclear cruise missile. Moscow responded it will "act accordingly" if a nuclear arms race resumes. Trump said the US has more nuclear weapons than any other country, followed by Russia and China.

China Set to Launch Manned Spacecraft

China announced it will launch the Shenzhou-21 manned spacecraft to its Tiangong space station tonight. It will be crewed by spacecraft pilot and flight commander Zhang Lu, flight engineer Wu Fei and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang. The three will relieve the Shenzhou-20 crew aboard the space station, then stay aboard the orbiting station for about six months to carry out scientific experiments. It is China's 37th manned spaceflight. The China space agency said the nation is on track for sending astronauts to the moon by 2030. It also said it is selecting two Pakistani astronauts for future space flight, following a February agreement between Beijing and Islamabad.

Top Business

BYD Profit Sinks in Third Quarter

BYD, China's biggest electric carmaker, reported a 33 per cent drop in third-quarter profit as a domestic industry price war overwhelmed stronger sales overseas. The Shenzhen-based company said profit tumbled to 7.8 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion) from a year earlier. Revenue slipped 3.1 per cent year on year to 195 billion yuan. The carmaker said it delivered a total of 1 million electric and hybrid vehicles in the latest quarter, a 1.8 percent drop from a year earlier. Overseas deliveries, however, surged 146 percent to 232,800 vehicles, with the company forecasting up deliveries of up to 1 million outside the Chinese mainland this year, comprising a fifth of total sales. BYD over-the-counter shares in New York fell nearly 4 percent.

Samsung, SK Hynix Post Strong Earnings on Chip Demand

Samsung Electronics, South Korea's largest company, reported a 33 percent surge in third-quarter operating profit on an 8.9 percent revenue increase from a year earlier to 86 trillion won (US$60.5 billion), citing strong demand for memory chips needed for artificial intelligence servers. Profit was 12.2 trillion won. The results bounced back from a slowdown in the company's chip business in the second quarter. Samsung said it expects world demand for AI chips to continue to grow and it is ramping up production.

Smaller rival SK Hynix, in its earnings report a day earlier, gave a similar upbeat forecast after posting a 62 percent third-quarter increase in operating profit from a year earlier to 11.4 trillion won and a 39 percent rise in revenue to 24.5 trillion won.

HongShan to Buy Bayer Antibiotic Business

HongShan Capital Group, formerly Sequoia China, has agreed to buy German drugmaker Bayer AG's antibiotic Avelox business for between 160 million euros (US$185 million) and 260 million euros, according to investment platform CareerIn. The deal covers global intellectual property, branding and commercial rights for Avelox, Bayer's best-known antibiotic. The transaction follows Bayer's ongoing divestment of mature drugs as it focuses on higher-growth therapy areas. Sales of Avelox, once a blockbuster, have fallen sharply in China, its largest market, after multiple rounds of centralized procurement slashed prices by over 90 percent.

Economy & Markets

Meituan Sells Bonds to Fund Delivery Competition

Chinese e-commerce giant Meituan expects to raise US$3 billion from a dual-currency bond offering to fund its fast-delivery service battle with rivals Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com, the South China Morning Post reported. Meituan will offer US$1.99 billion in dollar-denominated bonds and 7.08 billion yuan (US$1 billion) of debt in the Chinese currency. The US dollar bonds carry maturities of six, seven and 10 years, with coupon rates ranging from 4.5 per cent to 5.125 per cent. The yuan-denominated bonds have durations of five and 10 years, with interest rates of 2.55 per cent and 3.10 per cent, respectively, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Japan, EU Keep Rates Unchanged

Japan's central bank on Thursday kept benchmark interest rates steady at 0.5 percent at its first meeting since Sanae Takaichi, a low-rate advocate, took over as prime minister. The decision came even as the nation's inflation has remained above the bank's 2 percent target for more than three years, and was in line with market expectations. The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged at 2 percent for the third meeting in a row on Thursday, with bank President Christine Lagarde saying there is to hurry to change policy.

Hong Kong bank lending rates dropped in tandem with the US Federal Reserve's quarter-point cut in rates this week. Hong Kong rates are tied to those of the US because of the city's currency link with the US dollar.

Will OpenAI Mount a Mega-IPO?

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is laying the groundwork what could become the world's largest initial public offering, valuing the tech giant at up to US$1 trillion, Reuters reported, citing people close to the company. The IPO, which could seek to raise as much as US$60 billion, may come in the second half of 2026. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman, in a livestreaming event, said only, "I think it's fair to say it is the most likely path for us, given the capital needs that we'll have." The company has been pouring billions of dollars into AI infrastructure and industry alliances. Among its major investors are Microsoft, with a 27 percent stake, Japan's SoftBank and Abu Dhabi's MGX fund. The biggest global IPOs to date are: Saudi Aramco, US $25.6 billion; Alibaba, US$21.7 billion; and Softbank, US$21.3 billion.

Corporate

SAIC Profit Surges on Sales Growth, Cost Controls

Shanghai-based carmaker SAIC said net profit in the third quarter surged 6.5-fold to 2.1 billion yuan (US$293 million) from a year earlier on sales growth and cost controls. Revenue rose 16.2 percent to 169.4 billion yuan. For the first nine months of the year, revenue grew 9 percent to 469 billion yuan and net income was up 17 percent to 8.1 billion yuan. The company, which has a joint venture with General Motors, said sales of its own brands in the first three quarters rose 29 percent to 2 million vehicles, accounting for 64 percent of total sales. Sales of new energy vehicles increased 45 percent to 1 million, with a 70 percent rise in overseas sales.

China Rare Earth Profit Rises on Industrial Demand

China Rare Earth Group said net profit in the first nine months of this year nearly doubled to 192 million (US$27 million) from a year earlier on a 28 percent increase in revenue to 2.5 billion yuan. Prices for the critical industry minerals have surged this year on demand from manufacturers of smartphones, electric cars, wind turbines, consumer electronics and advanced military equipment. China refines about 90 percent of rare earth minerals and industrial magnets used in manufacturing worldwide.

Foxconn Industrial Posts Higher Earnings

Shenzhen-based Foxconn Industrial Internet, the Chinese mainland subsidiary of Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry, reported net profit in the third quarter surged 62 percent from a year earlier to a record 10.4 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) on expanding cloud-computing and other AI-related services. Revenue rose 43 percent to 243 billion yuan. For the first nine months of the year, revenue rose 38 percent to 604 billion yuan, yielding a 49 percent increase in net to 22.5 billion. The Shanghai-listed company counts Nvidia among its major customers.

China Film Group Profit Soars on Hit Movie

China Film Group, producer of the hit movie "Dead to Rights," said net profit in the third quarter jumped almost 15-fold to 176.7 million yuan (US$24.9 million) on a 36 percent revenue increase to 1.2 billion yuan. The movie, set against the backdrop of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese military, earned a record 3 billion yuan at the box office during the summer cinema season.

DJI Under Investigation in Italy

China's DJI, the world's largest drone maker, is under investigation for price fixing by Italian regulators. The Italian Competition Authority said the probe will look at allegations that DJI's European subsidiary pressured retailers to fix the prices of its products.