What's in this episode:

• Financial Markets: Fed cut rates by 0.25 pp to 3.75–4.00%. Singapore’s ETF market hit a record S$16.3 billion AUM (+40% YoY).
• Top Bit: China’s Super-Rich Smash Records:
  • China now has 1,434 super-rich individuals; total wealth rose 42% to 30 trillion CNY ($4.1T USD).
  • 376 people made the list for the first time this year, with 60% of the Top 100 coming from high-tech and industrial sectors.
  • India is catching up with 358 billionaires (+30% YoY).
• Number of the Day: 993 million—Total monthly active users across China’s AI apps in September. However, nearly 60% of standalone AI apps lost users, showing rapid market consolidation favoring super-apps.
• Market Bit: Amazon Turns Korea into an AI Hub:
  • AWS will invest over $5 billion by 2031 in Korean data centers (Incheon/Gyeonggi).
  • The project is part of AWS's $40 billion pledge across 14 APEC countries (2025–2028).
  • Korea is becoming AWS’s Asian nerve center for AI and sovereign data.
• Head of the Day: Rupert Hoogewerf (胡润): Founder of the Hurun Report, the definitive ranking of China’s wealthiest, charting the economy’s transformation over the last 25 years.
• Short News of the Day:
  • US-South Korea Deal: Agreed on a $350 billion trade and defense package, including approval for S. Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines in the US.
  • China Finance: Pledged deeper financial opening, granting 20+ new licenses to foreign banks since 2019.
  • HSBC: Launched Innovation Banking in Singapore with $1.5 billion earmarked for high-growth Southeast Asia companies.
  • Japan: Anthropic opened its first Asia office in Tokyo, citing tenfold regional sales growth.