Most-active lithium carbonate futures contract fell 4.00% intraday to 141,100 yuan/ton.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and five other ministries issued an implementation plan to prioritize agriculture and refine rural revitalization funding mechanisms. The plan calls for using insurance tools to build a multi-tier agricultural insurance system and accelerate high-quality development of agri-insurance. It directs full use of full-cost insurance and crop income insurance for rice, wheat, corn and soybeans, supports development of local specialty-product insurance to stabilise farm incomes, and encourages insurers to expand supply of agriculture-related products. Regulators will back market-based, autonomous rollout of farmland insurance, farm-machinery insurance and rural personal insurance, and encourage qualified localities to lower the county share of agricultural premium subsidies in targeted rural-revitalization counties. The plan also mandates more precise underwriting and claims, invites insurers into disaster relief and emergency-management roles, and promotes insurer-provided early warning and risk-reduction services to improve claims and service efficiency.

The Trump administration on Sunday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene after a federal judge blocked new limits on mail‑in ballots ahead of the midterms. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani extended an injunction barring the Postal Service from implementing an executive order by Trump affecting the November election. States have already begun sending ballots, leaving little time to change rules. This is the administration's third request to the high court; the Supreme Court has allowed the administration's plan to proceed but has not ruled on its legality. About one‑third of U.S. voters cast ballots by mail, so the dispute could materially affect control of Congress.