Why Beijing still loves its five-year plans
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 October 2025
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
US President Donald Trump urged his Ukrainian counterpart to accept Russia’s war terms during Friday’s volatile White House meeting, and five-year plans still have a place in Chinese politics despite massive changes to its economic system. Plus, global hedge funds are listing in Hong Kong again after an extended slowdown, and the battle for control of rare earth metals is turbocharging stock prices in this sector.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Trump urged Zelenskyy to accept Putin’s terms or be ‘destroyed’ by Russia
China pushes high-tech in 5-year plan as US tensions rise
Why China still loves its five-year plans
Hedge funds return to Hong Kong listings
Rare earths shares soar as US and China battle over export controls
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Today’s FT News Briefing was produced by Ethan Plotkin, Jess Smith, Sonja Hutson, and Marc Filippino. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Peter Barber. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | For over 40 years, Equinoor has been an energy partner to the UK. |
| 0:04.1 | During that time, we've played our part in the switch from coal to gas, |
| 0:07.1 | and we're working hard to help the UK's energy transition. |
| 0:10.2 | We may not have all the answers yet, but we're determined to find them. |
| 0:13.5 | Equinor, an energy company, searching for better. |
| 0:16.9 | 99.6% of Equinor's energy output is oil and gas. |
| 0:20.5 | Our investment in renewables and low-carbon |
| 0:22.4 | solutions has increased from 4% in 2020 to 27% in 2024. Find out more at equinor.com. |
| 0:32.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, October 20th, and this is your FT News briefing. |
| 0:39.6 | President Trump's latest meeting with Vladimir Zelensky was a bitter pill for the Ukrainian president, |
| 0:45.4 | and Chinese officials are cooking up their next five-year plan. Plus, investors are really digging |
| 0:52.1 | rare earth stocks. I'm Jess Smith, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 1:00.7 | U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukraine's president, |
| 1:08.5 | Vladimir Zelensky, to accept the Kremlin's terms or be, quote, |
| 1:13.2 | destroyed by Russia. That's the latest detail the F.T. is reporting about Friday's White House meeting |
| 1:19.1 | between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents. Zelensky had traveled to the White House to try and secure |
| 1:24.7 | new long-range tomahawk missiles. But the meeting descended into a |
| 1:29.3 | shouting match, according to officials familiar with the matter. Trump told Zelensky to surrender Ukraine's |
| 1:35.5 | entire Donbass region to Russia as part of an effort to end the war. The day before the meeting, |
| 1:41.5 | Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone, |
| 1:44.7 | and the two are set to meet in person this week in Budapest. |
| 1:54.4 | Hundreds of China's top officials are locked in a hotel in Beijing, and by the end of the |
... |
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