Morning Read: China-U.S. Leaders to Hold Meeting, Fed Cuts Interest Rate by 25 Basis Points

◎ The Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced: As agreed upon by China and the United States, President Xi Jinping will hold a meeting with U.S. President Trump in Busan, South Korea, on October 30 local time, to exchange views on China-U.S. relations and issues of mutual concern.

◎ The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by the expected 25 basis points, lowering the federal funds rate to a range of 3.75%-4.00%—the second rate cut this year—and announced it will end its balance-sheet reduction program starting December 1.

◎ He Lifeng, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, stated during a meeting with members of the China Securities Regulatory Commission's International Advisory Committee at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on the 29th that China is comprehensively implementing the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, further deepening capital market reforms, and steadfastly advancing high-level opening-up in the financial sector.

◎ On October 29, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange publicly released nine policy measures across three key areas, further enhancing the convenience of cross-border trade payments and actively supporting the development of foreign trade.

◎ As of October 28, the China Development Bank has completed its task of deploying 250 billion yuan through new policy-based financial instruments, supporting a total of 1,054 projects and expected to leverage a combined project investment of 3.85 trillion yuan.

◎ According to data from the Ministry of Finance, from January to September, state-owned enterprises achieved total operating revenue of 61,329.05 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 0.9%. Meanwhile, from January to September, the total profits of state-owned enterprises amounted to 3,167.03 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%.

◎ Xia Yingxian, Director-General of the Department of Climate Change Response at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stated during a regular press conference while answering reporters' questions that incorporating the carbon market will effectively drive the green and low-carbon transformation of the steel, cement, and aluminum smelting industries.

◎ Twenty-seven provinces have released their GDP figures for the first three quarters of 2025. In terms of regional GDP, the top three provinces are Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong, respectively. More details >>

◎ South Korea and the U.S. have reached a concrete agreement in their economic and trade talks. Under the $350 billion investment project by South Korea in the U.S., the Korean side will contribute $200 billion in cash, while an additional $150 billion will be allocated to shipbuilding cooperation. Meanwhile, the U.S. will reduce its tariff rate on Korean automobiles from 25% to 15%.

◎ The Bank of Canada announced it is cutting its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, marking the second consecutive rate cut and in line with market expectations.

◎ On October 29, national major port iron ore transactions totaled 951,000 tons, up 6.6% from the previous day; meanwhile, mainstream traders reported building steel sales of 114,600 tons, representing a 10.7% increase compared to the prior day.

◎ The Sichuan-Chongqing-based steel mills will increase the price spread between high-line and coiled rebar products. Specifically, the base prices for coiled rebar and high-line bars, based on the Φ18 specification, will be raised from 250 yuan/ton to 280 yuan/ton, effective October 30, 2025. For more details>>>

◎ On October 29, some coking enterprises in Hebei, Shandong, and other regions raised prices for metallurgical coke for the third time—increasing by 50–55 yuan/ton for top-charging ovens and 70–75 yuan/ton for stamp-charging ovens—effective from 0:00 on October 31.

◎ On October 29, Tangshan Qian'an Pufang billet resources saw a cumulative tax-inclusive price increase of 20 yuan, reaching 3,000 yuan per ton at the factory gate.

◎ This week, the average tax-inclusive cost of steel billets at Tangshan's mainstream sample steel plants was 3,033 yuan per ton, up 30 yuan per ton from the previous week. Compared to the October 29 ex-factory price of general-purpose billets at 3,000 yuan per ton, steel plants are currently averaging a loss of 33 yuan per ton.

◎ This week, the capacity utilization rate of the 314 sampled independent coal preparation plants was 36.5%, down 0.41% from the previous week; daily production of premium coal reached 265,000 tons, a decrease of 20,000 tons compared to the prior week; and premium coal inventory stood at 2.844 million tons, dropping by 52,000 tons from the previous week.

◎ According to a century-long construction survey, as of October 28, the funding completion rate at sampled construction sites stood at 59.7%, representing a week-on-week increase of 0.08 percentage points. Among these, residential building projects achieved a funding rate of 52.81%, up 0.05 percentage points from the previous week.

◎ Daye Huaxin plans to shut down and cool down two blast furnaces from December 20 to December 30, 2025, which is expected to reduce daily molten iron production by approximately 8,000 tons on average. The specific impact will depend on the steel plant's actual output.

◎ Henan Province has issued the Green Transformation Guide for the Steel Industry, which highlights that the transformation will focus on core processes such as sintering, pelletizing, coke making, blast furnace ironmaking, and converter (or electric furnace) steelmaking. The initiative aims to implement green upgrades across the entire production process, with a particular emphasis on reducing energy consumption, cutting carbon emissions, and enhancing the efficiency of resource recycling.

◎ On October 27, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that, following an application by Vietnamese producers, it has launched an anti-circumvention investigation into the anti-dumping case concerning hot-rolled coil originating from China.

◎ Anglo American Group released its Q3 2025 operational report, revising the group’s full-year iron ore production range upward to 58–62 million tonnes (previously 57–61 million tonnes).

◎ Sichuan: Plans call for completing investments exceeding 80 billion yuan by 2027, constructing and upgrading 30,000 kilometers of rural roads. This will ensure that over 90% of townships have access to Class III roads (and in the three prefectures, access to Class IV dual-lane roads), while achieving 100% connectivity of administrative villages to graded roads.

◎ Thirteen listed automakers announced their Q3 performance reports, reporting combined revenue of 433.48 billion yuan and total net profit of 16.671 billion yuan.

◎ Seven listed shipping companies announced their Q3 performance reports, reporting combined revenues of 125.089 billion yuan and total net profits of 7.531 billion yuan.