Oct. 19 — The Philippines summoned China's ambassador after he said last week China could easily defeat the Philippines in a conflict; several serving senators then demanded the envoy's expulsion. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a routine briefing that improving China‑Philippines ties is in both sides' interest, that China firmly opposes malicious hype on China-related issues that damages relations, and that Manila should restrain individual politicians' irresponsible remarks.

At the Financial Street Forum opening, PBOC governor Pan said the PBOC, the Ministry of Science and Technology and nine other ministries have issued guidance on financial support for building international science and technology innovation centers in Beijing (Jing‑Jin‑Ji), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) and the Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area. The PBOC will accelerate construction of a tech‑finance service system aligned with those centers’ core functions and international positioning, expand full‑chain and diversified financial supply, guide institutions to boost specialized services and strengthen regional information‑sharing, standards mutual recognition and infrastructure connectivity, and press for scaled deployment and pilots of re‑lending, a technology bond board and cross‑border investment and financing policies in the relevant regions to help build a higher‑level tech‑finance ecosystem.

Musk proposed that once Anthropic pledges 5% of its shares to a new charitable fund, those shares should be distributed directly to the public.