**Today's Headlines**

**Congo's Cobalt Export Quota Implementation**

On October 11, Congo's cobalt export quota was announced. Congo is strengthening resource sovereignty through a quota system, marking the transition of the cobalt market from an oversupply cycle to a shortage cycle, with systematic price center increases becoming a trend.

Congo's Strategic Mineral Market Regulatory Authority stated in a statement sent to media on Saturday that the quota will take effect on Saturday, October 16, calculated roughly proportionally based on a company's export performance over the three years ending in 2024. The regulatory agency stated last month that miners will be permitted to export slightly over 18,000 tons of cobalt for the remainder of this year, with maximum annual exports of 96,600 tons for 2026 and 2027. The licensed export volume for the next two years is less than half of the country's production last year.

The statement outlined how much cobalt each company can export for the remainder of this year and stated that December quotas will automatically renew as monthly quotas for next year.

All quotas are allocated to mines and government platforms: Based on monthly quota projections for next year, Luoyang Molybdenum received a quota of 31,200 tons (32.3%), meeting expectations but significantly higher than some institutions' previous expectations; Sheng Tun (1,680 tons), Huayou (1,080 tons), Zijin (1,080 tons), and Zhongse Mining (480 tons) all met expectations.

Institutions believe there will be cobalt shortages in the next two years: In 2024, global cobalt supply was 290,000 tons (Congo 220,000 tons + Indonesia 28,000 tons), demand was 185,000 tons, with a surplus of 105,000 tons; In 2026, global supply will be 180,000 tons (Congo 96,600 tons + Indonesia 40,000 tons), demand 200,000 tons, with a shortage of 20,000 tons.

This involves Hong Kong-listed stocks China Molybdenum (03993) and Likang Resources (02245).

**Market Outlook**

**Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index Falls 6.1%**

Overnight US markets closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 878.82 points to 45,479.6, a decline of 1.9%; the S&P 500 fell 182.6 points to 6,552.51, down 2.71%; the Nasdaq Composite dropped 820.2 points to 22,204.43, down 3.56%. For the week, the Dow fell 2.73%, Nasdaq declined 2.53%, and the S&P 500 dropped 2.43%.

Major tech stocks declined broadly, with Broadcom falling nearly 6%, Tesla down 5.06%, Amazon nearly 5% lower, Nvidia down 4.89%, Apple and Meta falling over 3%, and Microsoft and Google down over 2%.

Popular Chinese concept stocks fell broadly, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closing down 6.1%, accumulating an 8.37% decline for the week. NIO and Kingsoft Cloud fell over 10%, Bilibili dropped over 9%, and Baidu, Alibaba, and XPeng fell over 8%.

Hang Seng Index ADRs declined, closing at 25,322.53 points proportionally, down 967.79 points or 3.68% from Hong Kong's close.

COMEX gold futures for the nearby month rose $27.80 or 0.70% to $4,000.4 per ounce.

**Hot Topics Preview**

**Qualcomm Under Antitrust Investigation for Alleged Violations**

On October 10, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced that Qualcomm's acquisition of Autotalks without legally declaring the business concentration violated the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, and market regulators have launched an investigation.

Public information shows Autotalks was founded in 2008 as a fabless semiconductor company whose products support all major global communication standards, including DSRC and C-V2X (covering LTE-V2X and 5G-V2X). V2X technology enables direct communication between vehicles and with surrounding environments, improving road safety and transport efficiency.

**Universal Postal Union: International Postal Package Volume to US Continues Sharp Decline**

The Universal Postal Union, headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, reported on October 10 that international postal package volume to the US has continued to decline sharply since the US suspended duty-free measures for imported postal packages on August 29. Five weeks later on October 3, related postal traffic was still down 70.7% from pre-policy levels, only slightly recovering about 10 percentage points from the 81% decline at the end of August.

This affects Hong Kong-listed cross-border e-commerce stocks.

**Rare Earth Concentrate Prices Rise Again, Q4 Up 37% Quarter-over-Quarter**

Baotou Steel and Northern Rare Earth successively announced price increases for Q4 2025 rare earth concentrate related-party transaction prices. Previously, both companies announced on July 10 that Q3 rare earth concentrate transaction prices were adjusted to 19,109 yuan per ton excluding tax. Based on this calculation, Q4 prices rose 37.13% quarter-over-quarter.

This involves Hong Kong-listed rare earth industry chain stock JLMAG (06680).

**SMIC A-shares and Biwin Storage Margin Lending Ratios Readjusted to 70% and 50% Respectively**

According to announcements from Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, margin lending adjustments for eligible securities and their ratios will take effect from October 13. Among them, various stocks including Biwin Storage and SMIC had their eligible securities ratios increased from 0% to 30%-70%. Just on October 9, Biwin Storage, SMIC and others had their ratios adjusted to zero by multiple brokerages the previous trading day.

According to exchange regulations, stocks with static P/E ratios exceeding 300 times or negative ratios will have their margin lending ratios set to zero.

**Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission Director: New Kailai Will Bring Surprises**

The 2025 Bay Area Semiconductor Chip Exhibition themed "Chip Empowers Future, Smart Creates Ecosystem" will be held October 15-17 at Shenzhen Futian Convention Center. Shenzhen officials publicly confirmed that local semiconductor company New Kailai will participate and "bring surprises to everyone."

At the press conference, Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission Director Guo Ziping mentioned that in recent years, Shenzhen has emerged with a batch of innovative companies and products with widespread industry influence.

This involves Hong Kong-listed semiconductor stocks.

**Individual Stock Highlights**

**FRONTAGE (01521) Plans 270 Million Yuan Acquisition of Shanghai Guanhe Pharmaceutical Technology to Enhance Global Laboratory Service Capabilities**

FRONTAGE (01521) announced that on October 10, 2025, its wholly-owned subsidiary Frontage Shanghai (as buyer), Hangzhou Tigermed (as seller of Sale Shares I), and Hangzhou Tigermed's wholly-owned subsidiary Jiaxing Xinge (as seller of Sale Shares II) entered into a share transfer agreement. Upon completion, the target company will become a wholly-owned subsidiary, and the target group's financial performance will be consolidated into the group's financial statements.

**CH ENERGY ENG (03996) Subsidiary Signs Three New Energy EPC Contracts Totaling About 19.55 Billion Yuan**

CH ENERGY ENG (03996) announced that recently, a consortium formed by its subsidiaries China Energy Engineering International Construction Group, China Energy Engineering Group Guangdong Electric Power Engineering, and China Power Engineering Consulting Group Northwest Electric Power Design Institute signed three new energy EPC contracts with a project company established by Saudi International Power and Water Company, Saudi Public Investment Fund, and Saudi Aramco Power Company. The total contract value is approximately $2.745 billion, equivalent to about 19.554 billion yuan.

**SMOORE INTL (06969): Q3 Adjusted Profit About 440 Million Yuan, Up About 4% Year-over-Year**

On the evening of October 12, SMOORE INTL announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the group achieved revenue of approximately 4.1968 billion yuan for the three months ended September 30, 2025, a historic high for quarterly revenue, up about 27.2% year-over-year and about 27.5% quarter-over-quarter; adjusted profit for the period was approximately 444.2 million yuan, up about 4.0% year-over-year and about 4.8% quarter-over-quarter.

**SKB BIO-B (06990): Core Product TROP2 ADC Sacituzumab Govitecan (SAC-TMT) Receives NMPA Approval for Third Indication for EGFR-TKI Progressive EGFR-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer**

SKB BIO-B (06990) announced that its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting human trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2), sacituzumab govitecan (sac-TMT, also known as SKB264/MK-2870) (Jiatailai), received National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approval for its third indication, for treating adult patients with EGFR gene mutation-positive locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed after epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy.

**ZHAOJIN MINING (01818) Reports Q1-Q3 Results: Net Profit Attributable to Parent About 2.117 Billion Yuan, Up 140.43% Year-over-Year**

ZHAOJIN MINING (01818) announced Q1-Q3 2025 results with operating revenue of about 12.43 billion yuan, up 53.73% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of about 2.117 billion yuan, up 140.43% year-over-year; basic earnings per share of 0.55 yuan.