Chinese leader Xi Jinping is convening a key political meeting this week where he will push forward his next five-year strategy to strengthen the world’s second-largest economy in the face of mounting friction with the United States.

China has expanded its export rules on rare earths, requiring foreign firms to get approval for exporting products containing even small amounts of China-originated materials.

Reuters’ Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson reported that “China imported no soybeans from the U.S. in September, the first time since November 2018 that shipments fell to zero, while South American shipments surged from a year earlier, as buyers shunned American cargoes during the ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.”

One of China’s most important meetings begins Monday, as leader Xi Jinping and other ruling Communist Party elites gather to map the goals for the next five years. The closed-door gathering — known as the fourth plenum — is expected to last four days and will discuss and put the final touches on China’s next five-year plan,

President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have signed a critical-minerals deal at the White House.

The next round of US-China trade talks is set for next week, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Vice Premier He Lifeng facing the task of negotiating down new escalatory measures between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump earlier on Friday blamed Beijing for the latest impasse, a dispute over China's sweeping new export restrictions on rare-earth minerals and magnets. He has threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting on November 1 unless Beijing scraps the restrictions.

China’s economy expanded at 4.8 percent in the third quarter—the slowest rate in a year—according to data released on Monday by its National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), as ongoing trade tensions with the United States continue to weigh on growth.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Sunday accused the U.S. National Security Agency of carrying out cyberattacks on its national time center, saying any damage to related facilities could have disrupted network communications, financial systems and power supply.