Rare earths in the red and an overhaul for AI infrastructure

Hello, this is Kenji from Hong Kong.

A lot of discussions and news coverage here lately has been about the long-awaited, high-level Communist Party gathering in Beijing, known as the third plenum.

The conference is completely closed-door but it is still closely monitored and analyzed due to its historical impact on policy. Perhaps the most notable third plenum was the one held in December 1978, where then-paramount leader Deng Xiaoping put China on the path of "reform and opening-up." The bold new policy pulled the country out of the shambles of the Cultural Revolution and paved the way for it to become the world's second-largest economy.

I'll refrain from speculating on the outcome of the current meeting, as the results should be known shortly after this newsletter is published, but the Chinese propaganda machine has been busy depicting President Xi Jinping as "outstanding a reformist as Deng Xiaoping." On Monday, when the plenum kicked off, Xinhua published a lengthy report full of examples of how Xi has been instrumental in pushing forward a series of reforms.

It argues, for example, that Xi's visit to SAIC Motor 10 years ago helps explain how China's auto industry switched gears to electric vehicles and became a competitive global player. Meanwhile, the pain of overproduction in the steel industry has been "relieved" via the president's reform efforts.

Xi is also credited with initiating the "energy revolution," as the country leads in solar, wind, hydro and biomass generation facilities. In fact, the whole new wave of latest tech trends -- artificial intelligence, life sciences, quantum computing, nanotech, new materials, space and deep-water technology -- is "in the same line with the innovation-driven development