[Morning Post] China-US Joint Statement Sends Positive Signals; China's Export Controls on Rare Earths Continue

1. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) website released a joint statement on the China-US economic and trade talks in Geneva. Both sides committed to taking the following measures before May 14, 2025: The US will (i) revise the ad valorem tariffs imposed on Chinese goods (including goods from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region) as stipulated in Executive Order 14257 dated April 2, 2025. Specifically, 24% of the tariffs will be suspended for the initial 90 days, while the remaining 10% of the tariffs will be retained for potential imposition in accordance with the provisions of the executive order; (ii) cancel the tariff hikes imposed on these goods under Executive Order 14259 dated April 8, 2025, and Executive Order 14266 dated April 9, 2025. China will (i) correspondingly revise the ad valorem tariffs imposed on US goods as stipulated in Announcement No. 4 of 2025 issued by the Customs Tariff Commission. Specifically, 24% of the tariffs will be suspended for the initial 90 days, while the remaining 10% of the tariffs will be retained for potential imposition, and the tariff hikes imposed on these goods under Announcement No. 5 and No. 6 of 2025 issued by the Customs Tariff Commission will be canceled; (ii) take necessary measures to suspend or cancel non-tariff retaliatory measures against the US that have been in place since April 2, 2025. After implementing the above measures, both sides will establish a mechanism to continue consultations on economic and trade relations.

2. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce made remarks on the joint statement on the China-US economic and trade talks in Geneva. The Ministry of Commerce stated that substantial progress was made in the high-level China-US economic and trade talks, with a significant reduction in bilateral tariff levels. The US canceled a total of 91% of the tariff hikes, and China correspondingly canceled 91% of the retaliatory tariffs. The US suspended the implementation of 24% of the "reciprocal tariffs," and China also correspondingly suspended the implementation of 24% of the retaliatory tariffs. This measure aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries, as well as with the interests of both countries and the common interests of the world.

3. On May 12, 2025, a deployment meeting was held to strengthen the whole-chain management and control of strategic mineral exports. The meeting emphasized the importance of adhering to the principle of "prevention first, disposal in advance," closely tracking the flow of strategic minerals, enhancing information analysis and sharing, promptly issuing early warnings, and taking relevant disposal measures to strictly prevent the illegal outflow of strategic minerals.

4. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce responded to media inquiries regarding the launch of a special campaign to combat the smuggling and illegal export of strategic minerals. The Ministry of Commerce stated that it requires all relevant departments to strengthen law enforcement collaboration, severely crack down on the smuggling and illegal export of strategic minerals, form a high-pressure situation of "joint management and control," and take practical and effective measures to resolutely prevent the illegal outflow of strategic minerals.

5. On the 12th, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao presided over a roundtable meeting with foreign trade enterprises. Wang Wentao stated that important consensus had been reached and substantial progress had been made in the recent high-level China-US economic and trade talks, laying the foundation and creating conditions for further bridging differences and deepening cooperation.Going forward, the Ministry of Commerce will earnestly implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, coordinate domestic economic work with international economic and trade struggles, and, based on the "three important" positioning of commercial work, collaborate with relevant departments to fully support foreign trade enterprises in overcoming difficulties, provide them with more assistance, help them explore new markets, and promote the stable development of foreign trade.

Industry News

1. China has launched a special campaign to combat the smuggling and export of strategic minerals, and will organize a series of actions in the near future. Medium-heavy rare earths, which were previously subject to export controls, are included in this campaign. Previously, US research institutions had expressed concerns that China's rare earth controls would leave the US unable to fill its rare earth gap, as over 90% of rare earths are currently smelted and processed in China.

2. The People's Bank of China and four other departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for the Deepening of Comprehensive Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cooperation in Nansha, Guangzhou, Facing the World". The document proposes supporting the establishment of institutions in Nansha, such as data computing power centers, R&D and certification centers, evaluation centers, and regulatory platforms, that integrate key digital technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence with financial scenarios. It also calls for increased support for the marine industry, commercial space, and the all-domain unmanned industry.

3. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, as of May 11, 2025, there have been 3.225 million applications for vehicle trade-in subsidies, including 1.035 million for vehicle scrappage and renewal and 2.19 million for replacement and renewal. Since the implementation of the vehicle trade-in policy in 2024, the cumulative number of subsidy applications has exceeded 10 million.

4. Apple is reportedly considering raising the prices of its new iPhone models to be released this autumn. Insiders revealed that Apple will strive to avoid attributing the price increase to "Trump tariffs" and instead attempt to link this change to "new features and design modifications".

5. The General Office of the People's Government of Fujian Province issued the "Several Measures to Further Promote the High-Quality Development of Capital Market Services for Technology-Based Enterprises". The document proposes supporting the issuance of REITs products for projects in new infrastructure fields such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, and encourages the recycling of funds for investment in technological innovation.

6. Recently, some online accounts have fabricated breaking news events, concocted public policies, and fabricated rumors in the fields of social and livelihood issues through the abuse of AI technology, splicing, and other means, misleading netizens' perceptions, causing public panic, and disrupting social order. The cyberspace administration has guided website platforms to continuously increase monitoring and disposal efforts, promptly trace the sources and close accounts that first spread rumors, and has disposed of a total of 2,210 accounts in violation of laws and regulations.

7. The Economic and Information Technology Department of Sichuan Province and seven other departments jointly issued and implemented the "Action Plan for Breakthroughs in the Brain-Computer Interface and Human-Computer Interaction Industry in Sichuan Province (2025-2030)".It was proposed that by 2027, key breakthroughs would be achieved in critical segments of the industry chain, the industrial ecosystem would be basically established, and a number of industrial development clusters would be built.

Corporate News

1. CRRC Corporation Limited announced that it had recently signed major contracts totaling 54.74 billion yuan.

2. Longsheng Technology announced that the supply of NEV motor semi-assembly projects with Seres was expected to commence in the second half of 2025 (H2).

3. Boyun New Materials announced that its shareholder, Gaochuangtou, intended to reduce its stake by no more than 3% of the company's shares.

4. Beijing Lier announced its plan to invest 200 million yuan in Shanghai Zhenliang, a domestic AI chip company.

5. Sunshine Nuohe announced its plan to acquire 100% equity of Langyan Life, and its stock resumed trading.

6. Kutesmart stated in the record of investor relations activities that its collaboration with Huawei to upgrade the AI Agent 2.0 was expected to be completed in 2025.

7. Chuanhuan Technology stated on its interactive platform that its cooperation with Chengfei was progressing in an orderly manner.

8. Woer Heat-Shrinkable Material announced its plan to issue H shares and apply for listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

9. Zhaowei Electromechanical announced that its shareholder, Qingmo Investment, planned to reduce its stake by no more than 1.5% of the company's shares.

10. Yunnan Copper announced its plan to acquire a 40% stake in Liangshan Mining, and its stock was suspended from trading.

Global Markets

1. All three major U.S. stock indices closed significantly higher, with the Nasdaq rising 4.35% and the S&P 500 rising 3.26%, both reaching new closing highs since March 3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.81%, reaching a new closing high since March 27. Amazon surged over 8%, Meta rose over 7%, Apple and Tesla both gained over 6%, and Nvidia rose over 5%. All three major European stock indices closed higher, with the German DAX index rising 0.29%.

2. International crude oil futures settlement prices rose over 1.5%. WTI crude oil futures for June rose 1.52%, and Brent crude oil futures for July rose 1.64%.

3. COMEX gold futures fell 2.76%, and COMEX silver futures fell 0.42%.

Investment Opportunities Reference

1. Nvidia open-sources multiple large code inference models, with institutions stating that AI large models accelerate the development of high-speed optical modules

According to media reports, Nvidia recently open-sourced its Code Reasoning models (Open Code Reasoning model), including three parameter versions: 32B, 14B, and 7B. These models are based on Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen Qwen2.5-32B, Qwen2.5-14B, and Qwen2.5-7B.

In recent years, the training and inference applications of AI large models have required massive parallel data computation, leading to greater demands for network bandwidth. These factors have accelerated the development and application of high-speed optical modules.Guosheng Securities released a research report stating that the optical module industry has entered a period of technological iteration and demand restructuring. 800G remains the mainstream product, with the 1.6T mass production cycle longer than expected. CPO is unlikely to replace pluggable solutions in the short term, and the passive component market is undergoing a revaluation. The pace of industry chain upgrades has returned to the 2-3 year iteration cycle, and the secondary market needs to view technological evolution and performance realization rationally. Meanwhile, high-elasticity opportunities in the passive component segment are worth paying attention to.

2. Solid-state batteries in the spotlight! Multiple tech conferences to be held this week, with battery industry leaders gathering

This week, the battery industry is set to host multiple tech conferences. The 17th Shenzhen International Battery Fair/Expo (CIBF2025) will be held in Shenzhen from May 15 to 17. The exhibitor list includes several well-known companies such as CATL, BYD, and 3M China. Additionally, Gotion High-tech will hold its 2025 Global Technology Conference in Hefei from May 16-17. At the China EV100 Forum 2025 held in March this year, Zhu Xingbao, Chief Scientist of Gotion High-tech, revealed that Gotion High-tech will launch a new high-safety solid-state battery with an energy density of 300Wh/kg on May 17.

Since the beginning of this year, several policy documents released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the Zhuhai Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, and the Shanghai Municipal Government have all mentioned solid-state batteries. Yang Rui from Huaxi Securities believes that solid-state batteries represent a definitive technological direction, driving technological upgrades in multiple segments such as cathode materials, anode materials, separators, and conductive agents. As industry demand expands and products mature, the advantages of both volume and profit growth are expected to emerge.

3. One of the new tracks for AI hardware and consumer electronics: the market size of this type of AI product is growing rapidly

According to media reports, on May 15, Fibocom will jointly host the "AI Toys Innovation Seminar: Exploring the Future of AI with Fibocom and Volcengine" with Volcengine, to jointly unlock the technological frontiers, market opportunities, and industry ecosystem of AI toys.

After the Chinese New Year this year, the toy market has quietly been swept up in a wave of intelligence, with AI toys continuously emerging. AI toys integrated with the DeepSeek large model have injected unprecedented interactive experiences into the toy industry. Industry insiders point out that AI toys can not only understand children's speech but also engage in intelligent learning and adaptation based on reactions, thereby providing personalized interactive services. As one of the new tracks for AI hardware and consumer electronics, the market size of AI toys is growing rapidly and is expected to reach 100 billion yuan by 2033. The integration of AI and the toy industry will reshape the future of children's education, entertainment, companionship, and interactive experiences.

4. Songyan Power unveils a new generation of female bionic robots

According to media reports, humanoid robot startup Songyan Power has unveiled a new generation of bionic robots featuring a new female image named Xiaonuo.According to reports, it features multimodal embodied interaction, ultra-high degrees of freedom (32DOF), near-human facial expressions, open character customization, and underlying interfaces, supporting personalized makeup. A reporter from the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" learned on-site that the pre-orders for the Songyan Power N2 robot have exceeded 1,000 units.

Institutions predict that the global humanoid robot industry could reach $32.4 billion by 2029. Guosen Securities stated that the mass production schedule for Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, is gradually becoming clear. With continuous investments from major players both domestically and internationally (Figure, NVIDIA, Huawei, Unitree, Zhiyuan, etc.), the humanoid robot industry is expected to accelerate its development. 2025 could mark the starting point of an industry boom, and the opportunities for industrial upgrading brought by the advancement of humanoid robots are promising.