What's in this episode:

• Unusual Business Idea: Halloween is a $13 billion business in the U.S., but Asian authorities remain wary due to past incidents.
• Top Bit: Trump-Xi Trade Truce:
  
  • Truce Duration: One year of calm; Trump to visit China in April.
• • China’s Concession: Suspension of rare earth export controls for 12 months and a commitment to import 25 million tons of U.S. soybeans annually.
• • US Concession: Tariffs on Chinese goods halved from 20% to 10%; delay of new tech export bans.
• • Left Unspoken: No progress on TikTok, Nvidia chips, or Taiwan.
• Number of the Day: $1.8 Trillion—The projected size of the Asia-Pacific private credit market by 2027. Emerging Asia faces a $1.7 trillion USD annual financing gap.
• Market Bit: Fed Cut & Asia:
  
  • Fed cut rates by 25 basis points. Nomura expects no further cut in December.
• • A stronger dollar pulls capital from India/ASEAN toward stable markets like Japan, Korea, and China.
• • HKMA cut its base rate to 4.25%.
• Startup of the Day: ZEPETO (Korean Metaverse):
  
  • 400 million registered users; 20 million monthly active users.
• • Unicorn valued at >$1 billion USD.
• • Hosted virtual stores for brands like Gucci and Walmart.
• Short News of the Day:
  
  • Space: China reaffirms goal to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
• • Diplomacy: Japan and South Korea reaffirmed ‘future-oriented’ relations following a “warm” summit.
• • Talent: Harvard researcher Xie Zhenfei joins China’s leading virology institute in Wuhan.
• • Japan: Authorities consider allowing police to use rifles due to 13 deadly wild bear attacks since April.

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.

What's in this episode:

• Unusual Business Idea: Baijiu’s Decline—China’s 50% liquor is losing popularity; producers are launching milder versions for younger audiences.
• Top Bit: The AI Dilemma: Entry-level salaries in Hong Kong are at a seven-year low, dropping for the first time since 2018. Simultaneously, China's robotics market is expected to exceed $100 billion USD by 2028, driving huge demand for AI talent.
• Financial Markets: SK Hynix sets new records with 11.4T KRW (~$8B USD) in profit. Shares are up 200% YTD. Shanghai Composite Index briefly topped 4000.
• Number of the Day: >50%—For the first time since 2019, more than half of Americans favor cooperation and dialogue with China.
• Market Bit: Japan’s $550B US Investment Package: Tokyo pledged $550 billion by 2029 (in exchange for reduced auto tariffs). Key investments include $100 billion for nuclear/SMRs and $25 billion for power grids.
• Head of the Day: Tang Binsen (Chi Forest): The founder built the zero-sugar, zero-calorie brand like a tech product. 2024 Revenue was 10 billion RMB (~$1.4 billion USD).
• Short News of the Day: Digital Yuan rollout in Hong Kong via 17 local banks. Uber partnering with Chinese robotaxi firms, aiming to deploy 100,000 robotaxis by 2027. Indonesia emerges as Asia’s second largest app growth engine.