Weekend Buzz: October 18-19, 2025

China's Party Leaders to Hold Major Meeting

The Central Committee of Communist Party of China on Monday will begin its fourth plenum since the 2022 Party Congress to discuss the nation's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30). The four-day meeting is expected to focus on economic growth and further development of advanced technologies, like AI, robots and biogen, that have been principal drivers of growth. The closed-door meeting comes amid renewed trade tensions between China and the US.

Cambricon Posts Strong Results on AI

Beijing-based AI chip maker Cambricon, sometimes called "China's Nvidia," posted strong third-quarter earnings on the back of robust demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence technologies. Operating revenue in the September quarter surged 13-fold from a year earlier to 1.7 billion yuan (US$242.4 million). Profit swung to 567 million yuan from a 194 million yuan loss a year earlier, but was 17 percent lower than in the second quarter. For the first nine months, net profit was up 321 percent at 1.6 billion yuan.

Cambricon competes with Nvidia and domestic rival Huawei in advanced chip production, though Nvidia's presence in the mainland market has eroded with US sanctions on technology exports to China. Cambricon shares, which more than doubled in the third quarter, fell 2 percent in Shanghai on Friday amid a wider market decline, closing at 1,247.68 yuan.

Trump Cools on Missiles for Ukraine

US President Donald Trump appeared to cool on the idea of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk long-range missiles. The qualms came to fore during a White House meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that followed a day-earlier phone call with Russian President Vladmir Putin, where Trump agreed to meet the Kremlin leader soon in Budapest. Although he didn't rule out deliveries of Tomahawks, which would have the capability of striking Moscow, Trump stressed that the conflict needs to stop and both sides need to negotiate.

Peru's New President Refuses to Resign

Peruvian President José Jeri, who took office last week after parliament ousted his unpopular predecessor Dina Boluarte, refused to resign amid mass street protests against corruption and organized crime, declaring a state of emergency in Lima. At least one protester has been killed and 100 injured by riot police during demonstrations.

Venezuela Seeks Censure of US Ship Attacks

Venezuela asked the UN Security Council to declare US strikes on its vessels in the Caribbean illegal, with at least 27 seamen killed so far in a series of attacks by American naval vessels off its coast. The Trump administration claims it is stopping illegal drugs from reaching US shores and has authorized its Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert anti-drug operations in Venezuela.

Russia Proposes Undersea Link to Alaska

Russia has proposed that Elon Musk's tunneling business build a 113-kilometer rail link under the Bering Strait to connect the Russian Far East with Alaska. A Russian envoy said such a project would traditionally cost US$65 billion, but Musk's Boring Co technology could reduce that to US$8 billion. President Donald Trump called the idea interesting and said, "We'll have to think about that."

Top Business

Zijin Mining Q3 Results Glitter on Gold Prices

Zijin Mining Group, one of the world's largest miners of gold, copper and zinc, reported third-quarter net profit soared 52 percent from a year earlier to 17 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) on an 8 percent rise in revenue to 86.5 billion yuan. The company recently spun off its international arm for an initial public offering in Hong Kong – the largest ever IPO in the gold mining industry and the second largest IPO globally this year.

For the first nine months of the year, Zijing Mining reported a 54 increase in net profit to 45.7 billion yuan on a 10 percent increase in revenue to 254.2 billion yuan. Gold production in the January-September period surged 20 percent amid record global bullion prices, and copper output was up 5 percent. Zijin shares fell 1.3 percent in Hong Kong amid a wider market decline.

Singles Day Shopping Spree Expands

Singles Day, an annual Chinese online sales extravaganza that has grown into the world's biggest shopping festival by revenue, gets longer by the year. Presales for the event, which technically takes place on November 11, have begun four weeks in advance as retailers seek to boost revenue in a sluggish consumer market. Singles Day started on a university campus in 1993 when unattached students began exchanging small gifts on 11/11, a date with four single digits. But when e-commerce giant Alibaba seized upon the custom to stage a 24-hour online sales spree in 2009, it quickly grew into the nation's biggest online shopping event. Platforms like Alibaba's Taobao and TMall, JD.com, Douyin and Meituan are already offering discounts and vouchers in the runup to November 11. Alibaba said its first widescale deployment of AI will help shoppers navigate more than 2 billion product listings. Data provider Syntun estimated Singles Day sales last year totaled 1.4 trillion yuan (US$197 billion).

Micron to Exit China Market

US-based Micron Technology plans to stop supplying server chips to data centers in China after the business has failed to recover from a 2023 Chinese government ban on use of its products in critical infrastructure, Reuters reported. However, the company said it will continue to serve clients with operations outside of China, including laptop maker Lenovo. The company made US$3.4 billion, or 12 percent, of total revenue from the Chinese mainland in its last business year. China and the US have been targeting semiconductor manufacturers that each side claims pose national security threats, affecting companies like China's Huawei and US-based Nvidia.

Economy & Markets

US Sets Tariffs on Imported Trucks, Buses

The Trump administration announced new 25 tariffs on imports of medium and heavy-duty trucks and parts, and a 10 percent tariff on imported buses, effective November 1. It also unveiled tax credits for US-assembled vehicles.

Separately, President Donald Trump declared that a full-scale tariff war with China would be "unsustainable," which was interpreted as a sign that he may not follow through on threats to impose new 100 percent tariffs on Chinese imports come November 1. That sent gold prices tumbling down from record highs. Spot gold fell 2.6 percent in New York to US$4,211.48 an ounce.

S&P Tags US$1.2 Trillion Cost to Tariffs

President Donald Trump's tariffs will cost global businesses more than US$1.2 trillion this year, with most of the cost passed on to consumers, Standard & Poor's Global said in a report this week. in 2025, according to new analysis from S&P Global, which said the estimate is conservative. The forecast is based on information provided by analysts across 9,000 companies that contribute to S&P research. Daniel Sandberg, author of the report, said only companies will shoulder about a third of tariff costs, passing the rest onto consumers, CNBC reported.

China's High-Tech Sales Surge

China's high-technology industries posted a 15 percent rise in sales in the first nine months of the year, according to national value-added tax data. Sales of computers and communications devices rose 13.5 percent, transport equipment was up 10.5 percent, and equipment manufacturing grew 9 percent. Emerging industries benefited from the AI push. Integrated circuits rose 17 percent, robotics were up 22 percent, and drone sales jumped nearly 70 percent. Sales of digital products rose 11 percent, with investment in digital technologies rising 11 percent.

Hainan Expands Duty-Free Shopping

Chinese authorities announced an overhaul of the duty-free shopping policy in the southern island province of Hainan, effective November 1. The changes expand the range of eligible products to include pet supplies, portable musical instruments, cleaning robots, vacuum cleaners, digital photography equipment, drones and computer accessories. Domestic items, including clothing, shoes, ceramics, scarves, coffee and tea, can now be sold in duty-free shops with exemptions from value-added and consumption taxes.

Deep Dive

Never Say Die: The War Against Aging Has Begun

In the laboratory, researchers are pioneering science that may turn back the biological clock.

Corporate

BYD's Largest Ever Recall

BYD, China's largest electric carmaker, is undertaking its largest ever recall, with 115,000 Tang and Yuan Pro vehicles manufactured between 2015 and 2022 to undergo repairs for design defects and battery-related safety problems, China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced. BYD shares in Hong Kong fell 4 percent on Friday.

Hansoh Pharma Units Sign Licensing Deal

Two units of Hansoh Pharma have signed a licensing agreement with Swiss-based Roche to develop and market a new colon cancer drug outside of China and Taiwan. The involves an upfront payment of US$80 million and up to US$1.5 billion in performance-based milestone payments. Hansoh is based in Jiangsu Province.

Separately, Nanjing-based Leads Biolabs signed a deal to jointly develop its auto-immune drug candidate with US-based Dianthus Therapeutics in an agreement that could be worth up to US$1 billion.

Hotel Robot Maker Debuts in HK

Beijing-based Yunji, a Chinese technology company specializing in hotel robots, raised HK$590 million (US$76 million) in an initial public offering in Hong Kong. The company, backed by the likes of Alibaba and Tencent, said the proceeds will go to research and development. Its shares rose 26 percent on the first day of trading. The company said its robots perform a variety of tasks, including assisting check-ins and delivering food to rooms, in more than 34,000 hotels.

PayPal Partner's Trillion-Dollar Crypto Blunder

Paxos, the blockchain partner of PayPal, mistakenly minted US$300 trillion worth of the online payment giant's stablecoin in what the company called a "technical error," CNBC reported. Paxos identified the error after market watchers spotted an enormous injection of the stablecoins on Etherscan, and the issue was destroyed within 20 minutes. PayPal stable coins are backed on a 1-to-1 basis by US dollars, and there aren't enough dollars in global circulation to back US$300 trillion, more than double the world's estimated gross domestic product.

Tesla Ramps Up Shanghai Production

Tesla said it is ramping up fourth-quarter production electric cars at its Shanghai gigafactory to meet strong demand, without giving figures. The company reported a quarterly record of 500,000 deliveries in the third quarter, with strong orders for its new six-seat Model YL exclusively sold on the mainland. The plant, Tesla's largest outside the US, supports production of vehicles sold both domestically and overseas, including Model 3 and Model Y.

Pony.ai, Stellantis Team Up on Robotaxis

Chinese robotaxi company Pony.ai, which is seeking to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, said it is working with Stellantis on testing self-driving taxis in Europe, beginning in in Luxembourg. Starting next year, the companies plan a gradual rollout across European cities, with Pony.ai providing autonomous driving software and Stellantis – which owns brands Chrysler, Citroën and Jeep – providing electric vehicles.