China may permit major tech firms like Alibaba to buy Nvidia AI workstation chips, while Petrovietnam secured a crude supply deal with ExxonMobil. Meanwhile, European officials urged the UK to increase tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, and international investors continue to hold off on Chinese commercial property due to excess inventory.
01Policy
China Considers Allowing Alibaba and ByteDance to Purchase New Nvidia Chips
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology asked Alibaba and ByteDance to report how many RTX PRO 5500 cards they want and why, signaling Beijing may permit purchases of the new Nvidia chip. Nvidia closed Friday at $225.07 ahead of the reopening of markets on Monday. The RTX PRO 5500 is a Blackwell-generation workstation card featuring 84 GB of memory and a 600-watt draw. Because it is built for professional computers rather than bulk data-center deployment, the hardware sits outside current US export curbs. Nvidia's $108 billion forecast for the current quarter assumes zero China data-center , meaning any regional sales would exceed current . Huawei and Cambricon currently hold nearly 80 percent of China's server market.
EU Urges UK to Align Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles
The European Union urged Britain on September 25 to raise on Chinese electric vehicles and align its trade policy more closely with the bloc. Brussels warned that key British exports could otherwise face made in Europe barriers. The European Union imposed definitive countervailing duties on battery electric vehicles imported from China in October 2024 for a period of 5 years. Those additional duties ranged between 7.8% and 35.3%, bringing the maximum total tariff to 45.3% when combined with the existing 10% standard import duty. Britain did not follow the European Union in imposing additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024. Chinese manufacturers have captured a combined 16% share of the United Kingdom new car market this year. The European Union suggested that London join its customs union to resolve the issue and ease concerns that Chinese goods could bypass European tariffs by entering through Britain. The British government continues to rule out rejoining the European customs union or single market. Nissan's European boss Massimiliano Messina warned this month that Britain risked becoming a corridor into the European Union for Chinese electric vehicles.
Petrovietnam Refining and Petrochemical Corp signed a framework agreement with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific to explore supplies for its Dung Quat Refinery. The agreement was exchanged on Wednesday in New York during a high level roundtable between Vietnam leaders and United States corporate executives, witnessed by Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam. BSR has tested three additional crude types since the start of 2026, raising the total number of processable grades to 40, comprising 12 domestic and 28 imported varieties. The refinery imported about 8.28 million tons of crude oil in 2025, with imported crude accounting for around 31 percent of total feedstock. For 2026, BSR expects imported crude to account for about 15 percent of feedstock, sourced from regions including West Africa, the Mediterranean, and Southeast Asia. The company has also completed technical evaluation and processing of Nigeria Erha crude at a maximum blending ratio of about 45 percent by volume, and Sao Vang Dai Nguyet condensate at up to about 12 percent. BSR has separately signed crude supply agreements with Chevron to support stable feedstock availability for the refinery.
JLL Sees Signs of Recovery in China Property Market
International investors are watching for mainland China office and retail property markets to absorb new supply before returning to the sector, according to JLL, the South China Morning Post reported. Stuart Crow, JLL chief executive for Asia-Pacific markets, said foreign institutions remain patient while waiting for commercial spaces to clear current oversupply. Local buyers, including corporate investors and high-net-worth individuals, drove an increase in commercial property transactions in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing during the first half of the year. These domestic buyers purchased office buildings and hotels in prime locations anticipating that property prices would soon bottom out following a years-long downturn. Large institutions such as real estate funds and insurers require commercial properties to generate sufficient income before committing capital.
Japan Transitions From Rice Shortage to Surplus Amid Trade and Climate Shifts
Japan swung from a severe rice shortage to a record surplus in two years, Fortune reported, prompting the government to buy back 210,000 tons of the grain to prevent prices from collapsing. Extreme heat and drought damaged the 2023 crop, dropping private rice stocks from a normal range of about 2 million tons down to 1.5 million tons. That shortage pushed the price of a five-kilogram bag of rice from about ¥2,000 in early 2024 to a peak of ¥4,300 by 2025, forcing the government to release emergency reserves for the first time since the system was created in 1995. Farmers ramped up production in response to the higher prices, driving private stocks back up to 2.43 million tons by mid-2026 and pushing prices down toward ¥3,300. The agriculture ministry forecasts the surplus will grow larger heading into 2027 as production continues to outpace demand. Meanwhile, a 2025 U.S.-Japan trade deal increased Japan's U.S. rice purchases by 75% under its WTO-mandated duty-free quota, adding foreign supply to a recovering domestic market. Japan's 500,000 rice farms span 3.4 million acres, with an average farmer age of 67.7 years and only 1.2% under 30. Agricultural experts suggest adopting a safety net modeled on the U.S. Price Loss Coverage program to protect farmers when prices fall below estimated production costs of around ¥2,800 per five kilograms.
Trump Reportedly Rejects Iran's Seven-Day Strait of Hormuz Peace Deal
Donald Trump has reportedly rejected a diplomatic proposal from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities within a seven-day window, according to The Guardian. The initiative, transmitted through Qatari mediators at the United Nations General Assembly and detailed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, was conditioned on the US lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waiving sanctions on oil sales, and observing a ceasefire including Lebanon. In exchange, Tehran offered to resume stalled talks on its nuclear program. US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal indicated skepticism, with Trump telling staff he anticipates a renewed bombing campaign following the November US midterm elections. The seven-month conflict, which began with US and Israeli attacks on February 28, has disrupted vital oil flows through the shipping lane and fueled global through high energy prices. Araghchi stated that the initial steps of the proposal would take four to five days, with the strait opening on the sixth day and talks beginning on the seventh day. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian maintained in a CBS interview that Tehran is ready for nuclear talks but rejects coercion. Regional spillover continues alongside the diplomatic friction, as the Saudi-led coalition intercepted two Houthi drones launched toward Riyadh, and pipeline attacks have temporarily removed Saudi oil from the market. Previous diplomatic efforts have repeatedly failed to halt the conflict.
Trade friction, energy realignment, and tech supply chains are reshaping global trade channels. The immediate question is whether rising protectionism and US policy shifts will derail fragile recoveries across Asian property and European vehicle markets.
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