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  China controls the rare earths the world buys - can Trump's new deals change that? US President Donald Trump has signed a flurry of deals on his Asia visit to secure the supply of rare earths, a critical sector that China has long dominated. The deals with Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia differ in size and substance and it's too early to assess their tangible impact. But they all include efforts to diversify access to the minerals that have become essential for advanced manufacturing, from electric vehicles to smartphones. The agreements, which aim to lock partners into trading with the US, are a clear bid to reduce dependence on China, ahead of a key meeting with its leader Xi Jinping. They could eventually challenge Beijing's stranglehold over rare earths, but experts say it will be a costly process that will take years. "Building new mines, refining facilities, and processing plants in regions such as Australia, the United States, and Europe comes ...
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BYD shares slide as China's EV price war hits profits


Shares in Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD slid by as much as 8% on Monday after it reported a drop in profit because of a price war in China's car sector.

The carmaker had on Friday reported that its net profit fell to 6.4bn yuan ($900m; £660m) between April and June, down 30% from a year earlier.

BYD said in its filing that "increased price competition" among China's EV brands had impacted the industry.

The Shenzhen-based manufacturer is facing an increasingly crowded market, competing against local rivals Nio and XPeng and US carmaker Tesla, which have all slashed prices to draw buyers.

EV makers have subsidised car dealers and offered zero-interest loans to buyers as the industry becomes increasingly cutthroat.

It has prompted warnings from Beijing, which urged automakers to stop the aggressive discounts in order to protect the economy.

Average car prices in China have fallen by around 19% over the past two years, currently standing at around 165,000 yuan ($23,100; £17,100), according to industry estimates.

And despite significant sales abroad, BYD's earnings fell short of analysts' estimates for a modest increase.

The company targeted global sales of 5.5 million cars this year, but had sold just 2.49 million by the end of July.

BYD's "surprising" performance suggests that even the leader of China's EV sector won't necessarily win from a "cut-throat" price war, said industrial policy expert Prof Laura Wu from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

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