Morning Read: "One Line, One Bureau, One Meeting" Makes a Strong Statement—Black Futures Turn Positive in Overnight Trading

◎ Premier Li Qiang of the State Council attended the 5th Leaders' Meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. Li Qiang pointed out that the current international economic and trade landscape is undergoing complex changes, with unilateralism and protectionism gaining momentum—posing significant risks to the region. He emphasized that all parties to the agreement should strengthen their collaboration even further, jointly address these challenges, and work together to drive forward development.

◎ Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Rubio. Wang Yi expressed his hope that both sides would move toward each other, paving the way for high-level interactions between China and the U.S. and creating favorable conditions for the development of bilateral relations.

◎ On October 27, the 2025 Financial Street Forum Annual Conference opened in Beijing. During the event, speeches were delivered by Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China; Li Yunze, Director of the National Administration of Financial Regulation; Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission; and Zhu Hexin, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China and Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, among others. Key points are as follows:

(1) Currently, the bond market is performing well overall, and the central bank will resume open-market operations involving the buying and selling of government bonds.

(2) The central bank will continue to refine the monetary policy framework, strengthening both the implementation and transmission of monetary policy.

(3) The central bank will continue to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to crack down on the operation and speculation of virtual currencies within the country.

(4) Conduct research to support policy measures that help individuals repair their credit.

(5) The central bank is exploring mechanism arrangements to provide liquidity to non-bank institutions under specific scenarios.

(6) Enhance long-term capital support policies and firmly address disorderly competitive practices.

◎ The second round of coking coal price hikes has been fully implemented, with mainstream steel plants in Shandong and Hebei issuing letters to increase their purchase prices for coking coal by 50 yuan/ton for wet-quenched coke and 55 yuan/ton for dry-quenched coke, effective from 0:00 on October 27.

◎ National Bureau of Statistics: From January to September, industrial enterprises above designated size across the country achieved total profits of 5,373.2 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.2%. Notably, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling industries turned from losses to profits, recording an impressive profit of 97.34 billion yuan.

◎ Ministry of Transport: We must firmly achieve the annual transportation development goals and ensure a successful conclusion to the 14th Five-Year Plan, while prioritizing efforts to stabilize employment, support businesses, sustain markets, and manage expectations in the transportation sector, as well as expanding effective investment in transportation.

◎ The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s latest forecast indicates that the U.S. government’s debt-to-GDP ratio will reach 143.4% by 2030, surpassing Italy and Greece for the first time this century.

◎ On October 27, national major port iron ore transactions totaled 730,000 tons, a 9% decrease from the previous day; meanwhile, mainstream traders reported building steel sales of 123,400 tons, up 35.5% compared to the prior period.

◎ A survey of 36 nationwide downstream construction companies reveals that only 38.89% of enterprises had new projects commencing in the fourth quarter of 2025, with most new projects expected to kick off in the first quarter of 2026. Currently, the majority of companies report project scales remaining at a stable level, though financial pressures continue to be particularly pronounced. Meanwhile, companies remain cautious in their procurement activities, and overall raw material inventories continue to stay low. For more details>>

◎ From October 20 to October 26, China's total iron ore arrivals at 47 ports reached 20.843 million tons, a decrease of 5.920 million tons compared to the previous week.

◎ From October 20 to October 26, global iron ore shipments totaled 33.884 million tons, an increase of 548,000 tons compared to the previous week. Shipments from Australia and Brazil reached a combined 29.259 million tons, up 1.008 million tons from the prior week.

◎ Baowu Echeng Steel plans to conduct a 38-day maintenance overhaul on No. 1 Blast Furnace starting from December 2025, which is expected to reduce hot metal production by approximately 310,000 tons. The specific impact on product varieties will depend on the steel plant's actual output.

◎ Ten listed steel companies announced their Q3 2025 financial results, reporting combined revenue of 101.94 billion yuan and total net profit of 2.899 billion yuan. Details>>

◎ Hualing Steel announced that its subsidiary, Hualing Xianggang Steelmaking Plant, plans to build a new large-square billet continuous casting machine project, with an investment of 512 million yuan and a construction period of 15 months.

◎ On October 27, China's first and the world's largest-specification φ530 Assel-style special-grade steel pipe production line—featuring core mandrel rolling—officially began operations at Shandong Guangfu Group.

◎ At 8:56 PM on October 26, Jianlong Angang's blast furnace was successfully ignited and put into operation, marking the successful completion of the blast furnace upgrade and renovation project.

◎ On October 25, Fujian Sangang (Group) Co., Ltd. (Sanming Headquarters), Shanxi Gaoyi Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., and Haicheng Hengsheng Foundry Co., Ltd. publicly announced the progress of their ultra-low emission upgrades and assessment monitoring efforts. Currently, 220 steel enterprises have already made their updates public on the China Iron and Steel Association website. Details >>

◎ The 300,000-ton ore vessel "Gemini," from Brazil, has begun its first grab operation at Berth D31 of the ore terminal in Qingdao Port's Dongjiakou Area, marking the official launch of Qingdao Port's second 400,000-tonne ore terminal.

◎ Domestic gasoline and diesel prices will be lowered at 24:00 on October 27, with reductions of RMB 265 and RMB 255 per ton, respectively. Filling up a 50-liter fuel tank with 92-octane gasoline will now cost you RMB 10.5 less.

◎ Latest data shows that U.S. ports—America's top 10 container ports—experienced a 6.6% year-on-year decline in September import container volumes, reversing the slight growth seen in July (+3.2%) and August (+0.2%), and marking a further deepening of the downward trend compared to May and June.