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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may skip the Apec finance ministers meeting in Hong Kong later this month to focus on preparing for President Trump's historic visit to Shenzhen in November. He is expected to meet Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng ahead of Trump's visit, as both sides seek a longer extension of the bilateral trade truce expiring on January 10. Washington will instead send Deputy Treasury Undersecretary Erin Browne to attend the October 20-21 meeting in Hong Kong.

Anthropic and OpenAI have repeatedly warned since mid-September about the risks of失控 (loss of control) in Recursive Self-Improvement (RSI), urging a slowdown in R&D to allow time for safety measures. Chinese AI players are advancing aggressively: Zhipu's Tang Jie disclosed the company's first RSI engineering practice on September 17, Xiaomi released the MiMo-V2.6 series on September 22 as a "key step," and Alibaba's Wu Yongming said Qwen is exploring RSI. Anthropic、OpenAI警示AI自我改进风险 中美科技巨头竞逐RSI Anthropic和OpenAI自9月中旬以来多次警告递归自我改进(RSI)的失控风险，呼吁放缓研发进度以争取安全保障时间。中国AI企业加速布局：智谱唐杰于9月17日披露公司首个RSI工程化实践，小米于9月22日发布MiMo-V2.6系列称为“探索RSI的关键一步”，阿里吴泳铭透露Qwen团队正在RSI探索中。尽管存在警示，资本市场仍对RSI叙事反应积极。

A 50-person pig farming equipment company in Foshan, led by Liu Wen, used AI to rewrite its software and generate marketing content, reducing customer acquisition costs from 1,500 yuan to near zero. The company now gets 30 new clients monthly, with new media revenue reaching 200,000-300,000 yuan in March 2025. The broader adoption shows AI's potential in traditional industries despite data and organizational barriers.

Biren Technology priced 130 million new H-shares at HK$4.04 billion, down 11.85% on the day. The company still has HK$9 billion unused from prior raises (HK$7 billion from July and HK$3 billion from January IPO), yet is seeking fresh equity. About 70% of the new raise targets strategic supply chain procurement—pre-ordering HBM, reserving wafer capacity, building inventory buffers—driven by.extreme HBM shortage and 52-70 week lead times.

Chinese researchers developed a computer simulation suggesting a missile-borne lidar system could detect and track a US F-35 stealth fighter at up to 61.5km. The simulation represents one of seven science highlights from SCMP's coverage of the past two weeks.

Former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher Jacob Coxon said he is 90 per cent certain China already has spies inside US AI companies, without providing evidence. Coxon made the allegation in a PBD Podcast interview with Patrick Bet-David, arguing China could steal advances from leading US AI labs and close any technological gap.

Experts recommend the United States replace "wholesale restrictions" on Chinese electric vehicles with targeted safeguards and strategic partnerships. John Helveston, associate professor at George Washington University, said this would prevent US carmakers from losing global market share. The experts spoke during a discussion on Tuesday.

Chinese automakers' registrations in the UK rose to 519,424 vehicles between January and August 2026, capturing 28.1% market share, up from 12.9% in the same period in 2025. The best-selling Jaecoo 7, nicknamed the 'Temu Range Rover,' sold 10,814 units in September. UK Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds is considering matching the EU's up to 35.3% tariff on Chinese EVs to avoid Made in Europe barriers, with China warning of retaliatory measures.

CCTV reported that a foreign warship lost power, propulsion and radar while aggressively shadowing a PLA Navy Type 055 destroyer Zunyi during routine training in the South China Sea. The Chinese account describes it as a rare encounter, resembling other incidents involving US Navy destroyers in the region this year.

Shenzhen Huaqiangbei merchants reported memory module prices climbing more than 300% year-over-year as of October 2026, with DDR4 (16GB) rising from over 100 yuan to over 600 yuan and DDR5 (16GB) from over 200 yuan to over 1,400 yuan. AI servers consuming 8-10x more memory than standard servers have absorbed about 70% of advanced storage capacity, prompting Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron to shift production toward higher-margin HBM, cutting consumer-grade supply.

Michael DeSombre, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said investors are overestimating the risk of conflict across the Taiwan Strait, arguing that deterrence and substantial consequences would deter Beijing from taking the island by 2027. He said both China and the U.S. don't want conflict. The U.S. has held back approval of a $14 billion arms sales package to Taiwan after a $11 billion package drew Beijing's response.

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a historic state visit to the United States in September, his first in over a decade. He also visited India for the first time in seven years, meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. China will host the APEC summit in November, where Xi will meet US President Donald Trump for the third time this year.

According to a new analysis, China is running the most systematic effort of any outside power to learn from the drone war in Ukraine, with military and defence-industry analysts typically writing up new battlefield techniques within about four months. However, it usually took a year or more before those lessons showed up publicly in People's Liberation Army training, equipment or force structure.

The Trump administration, through the Department of Labor's inspector general, announced an investigation into nine US universities over alleged J-1 visa fraud, with officials expressing concerns about Chinese scholars and the Chinese government. Anthony D'Esposito, inspector general of the US Department of Labor, announced the investigation at a Thursday press conference.

Hurricane Isaias is heading toward the US Gulf Coast, home to about 14% of American refining capacity. Shell, Chevron and BP have evacuated personnel and curtailed production, with roughly 1.3 million bpd of oil output shut in. Experts warn the storm strikes at the worst time in 25 years, with fuel inventories at seasonal lows and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at its lowest since 1982.

Against the backdrop of US-China strategic stalemate, Chinese analysts advise firms to diversify trade and develop sanctions-evasion tools as US trade controls expand. Observers note the absence of a business delegation accompanying Xi to Washington may reflect China's insecurity about the trading relationship. A China-EU trade resolution is hoped for by mid-October, with further tensions looming if talks fail.