Spot gold slid below $4,030/oz, down 1.30% on the day. New York silver futures fell more than 3%, at $57.87/oz.

SSE 50 Index rose more than 2% intraday.

The State Council issued the Education Development "15th Five-Year" Plan, directing a quality-led expansion of higher education and a geographic tilt of new resources toward populous provinces, China’s central and western regions, and ethnic minority areas. The plan backs capacity increases at Double First-Class universities, including new campuses, and aims to boost undergraduate admissions by more than 100,000. It calls for building several new research-oriented universities and orderly expansion of undergraduate and graduate intake, prioritizing engineering, science, agriculture and medical disciplines. The document mandates improvements to basic campus facilities, including student dormitories, encourages repurposing idle school buildings across stages, strengthens teacher staffing and allocation for primary/secondary schools and kindergartens, and requires a school-age population forecasting and early-warning mechanism. It also directs expanded education supply in cities with net inflows and areas with weak basic education and optimizes admissions plans to support rural revitalization; small-class teaching will be advanced where appropriate.