Hi folks, it’s the Golden Week holiday here in China. I am currently on my way to Ningde, Fujian, for a few days of vacation on the coast. It’s a rather niche tourist spot, so I hope it’s not too crowded!
In case you do not know, a few months ago, I started a separate newsletter sharing my personal investment ideas and how I structure my own portfolio (which has been running for 11 years).
I love investing, even if only on a part-time basis. For me, investing is a great intellectual journey. Moreover, I am a firm believer in practicing what I preach and putting money where my mouth is. If I can’t monetize my ideas and beliefs through investing, I may not be worth listening to.
To be clear, it is not an investment advice newsletter, and I will not pretend to know everything. Just as I wrote in the first article:
Again, investing for me is a big way to satisfy my own curiosity and to help myself grow intellectually, while writing this newsletter can help me put more discipline on myself. This means that reading this newsletter will not be like having a mentor or a guru, but a study companion in our respective journeys.
In the last few days, I just conducted a quarterly portfolio review, during which I shared how I positioned myself for the biggest trends that I am seeing, from China consumption to global decoupling, from autonomous driving to green energy. I also shared my long-term interest in copper, and expressed my caution in generative AI as well as total disbelief in general robotics.
Before I sign off, let me share a quick take on two interesting news items.
In a significant development for global trade, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced on September 24, 2025, that China will no longer seek “Special and Differential Treatment” (SDT) in any current or future WTO negotiations.
Although Chinese officials explicitly clarified that this does not mean China is abandoning its self-declared status as a developing country, the practical significance lies in the concessions it is giving up. SDT provides benefits like longer timelines for implementing trade commitments, technical assistance, and greater leeway for subsidies. By voluntarily forgoing these new privileges, China is effectively raising the bar for its own trade obligations.
And then a few days later, China made another announcement:
China will tighten the rules for exporting electric vehicles by requiring automakers to obtain export permits from next year, the Commerce Ministry said Friday. The export licenses, required from Jan. 1, are intended to “promote the healthy development of the new energy vehicle trade,” the ministry said in a statement. (AP)
To be sure, an export license is not an export quota. But it will go a long way to eliminate unauthorized exports by so-called “parallel traders” by requiring that only automakers and their authorized distributors with established overseas service networks can export EVs, protecting pricing power as well as brand image of domestic brands.
Both of these new developments align nicely with the zeitgeist - the great pivot from overproduction to a balance between high-quality production and consumption, from an excessive trade surplus to a more balanced trade.
I really want to write another briefing about the ongoing controversy surrounding the so-called K visa and what I see as the rise of “Chinese MAGA”, as well as Chinese censors’ recent crackdown in this direction. But since I am on vacation, it will take at least a few days to finish.
Stay tuned!