There’s a maxim that holds true for the rough and tumble of both the schoolyard and great power competition; it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Maybe that’s why US President Donald Trump has called on China to stop playing games over rare earths as one of his key demands ahead of talks between the two countries later this week. China is responsible for almost 70% of output of rare-earth elements and has vowed to exert broad controls over their use globally. 

Trump also urged Beijing to do more to stop the export of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals and to restart its purchases of US soybeans. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the US and China will hold talks later this week in Malaysia. That came after he met virtually with Vice Premier He Lifeng on Friday, discussions that Chinese state media described as a constructive exchange of views.

The signs of easing friction helped boost market sentiment. Most Asian equity benchmarks rose with the good mood spilling over into Europe. Copper also advanced more than 1% on the prospect of easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Vietnamese stocks meanwhile plunged by more than 5%, the most in six months, on concern over the corporate bond market after the regulator said it found violations. —Samson Ellis 

What You Need to Know Today

China’s economy is still on track to reach this year’s expansion goal, according to the government, even after the weakest growth in a year. GDP grew 4.8% from a year earlier in the three months through September. Still, growth over the first three quarters laid a “solid foundation” for achieving the full-year growth goal of around 5%, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Sanae Takaichi is a step closer to becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister after her Liberal Democratic Party agreed a coalition deal with the Japan Innovation Party. Combined, the LDP and the JIP hold 231 seats in the lower house of parliament — still two seats shy of a majority — but divisions between opposition parties mean Takaichi would be all but certain to win the vote.
 

The CEOs of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are set to attend Hong Kong’s annual summit for global finance leaders. David Solomon and Ted Pick will come to the Asian financial hub’s main annual event scheduled for the first week of November among others, according to people familiar with the matter. The event will be under close scrutiny as trade tensions between the US and China continue and a slew of credit losses weigh on global banks. 

Apple’s latest generation of iPhones is outselling prior models. The iPhone 17 series outsold the iPhone 16 range by 14% over their respective first 10 days on sale in the US and China, according to Counterpoint Research. Counterpoint’s analysts attribute the boost to an improved display, more storage and the upgraded A19 chip.

The iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max on sale at Apple's Grove store in Los Angeles, California. Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

Several major Japanese retailers have suspended their e-commerce sites after a logistics supplier was hit by a cyber attack. Ryohin Keikaku, which owns Muji, and The Loft Co., a seller of household goods, were both affected but were unable to say when they would be able to resume online sales. It’s the second such incident to disrupt the country’s consumer market in less than a month after Japan’s largest brewer Asahi Group suffered a cyber attack that disrupted production and shipments of the country’s most popular beer.

The Chinese unit of chipmaker Nexperia said it operates and makes decisions independently, and employees have the right to disregard any instructions coming from the outside, including from the company’s headquarters in the Netherlands. The statement highlights the tensions between the parent company and its Chinese unit after the Netherlands government seized the company. The Netherlands took control of the company, a key supplier of automotive and consumer electronics chips, to ensure access to its products.

A cargo aircraft skidded off the runway into the ocean at Hong Kong airport. The incident occurred around 3:50 a.m. and killed two ground crew in a patrol car. The four crew members on the plane, which was operated by Turkey’s AirACT on behalf of Emirates Airlines, were rescued and taken to the hospital. The accident is one of the most serious in the airport’s 27-year history. 

The wreckage of an AirACT cargo aircraft at Hong Kong International Airport. Photographer: Leung Man Hei/Bloomberg

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

For Your Commute

Last month, two assassins made an appointment to see bankruptcy lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk. After he identified himself, they shot him dead in the boardroom of his firm’s offices on a sunny morning in leafy northern Johannesburg. The brazen murder is part of a growing trend in South Africa, a country long dogged by violent crime — the targeting of professionals instrumental in fighting corruption by hit-men. Some 13 insolvency practitioners, tax consultants and other professionals were assassinated in 2022 and 2023, the latest years for which data is available, research by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime shows.

A mourner's funeral pamphlet at the memorial service of Attorney Bouwer van Niekerk in Johannesburg, South Africa. Source: Gallo Images/Gallo Images Editorial

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