Good morning. US secretary of state Antony Blinken has met China’s foreign minister Qin Gang in Beijing as part of a highly anticipated mission to reboot the countries’ relations, which suffered after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over North America.
Blinken is the first secretary of state to visit China since 2018, a reflection of Beijing’s strict Covid-19 lockdowns but also of how US-China ties have fallen to their lowest level in decades.
The US diplomat began two days of meetings with officials on Sunday, but it was unclear if he will meet President Xi Jinping.
Blinken met Qin for five and a half hours and invited him to Washington to continue discussions, the US state department said.
Blinken’s trip is designed to follow a meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Bali in November, when the leaders agreed to create a “floor” under the relationship. But the plan was derailed in February when Blinken cancelled a visit to China because of the balloon.
One senior US official said relations were now “in a place where we can move forward with the Bali agenda”.
“That’s what this trip is about,” said the official, who cautioned that Blinken was “very clear-eyed” that progress would be “hard” to achieve.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
Diplomacy: Germany and China begin bilateral government consultations in Berlin, the first face-to-face meeting between the countries since 2018. It will also be the first overseas visit by new Chinese premier Li Qiang, who will meet German business leaders and ministers.
UK: MPs will gather to ratify a damning parliamentary report on Boris Johnson, the former prime minister.
Holiday: The US celebrates Juneteenth on Monday. Financial markets are closed.
Five more top stories
1. AstraZeneca has drafted plans to spin off its China business and list it separately in Hong Kong as a way to shelter the company against mounting geopolitical tensions. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker began discussing the idea with bankers several months ago, according to people familiar with the talks, who cautioned that a separation might not ultimately take place.
Opinion: Corporate contingency planning in Hong Kong will be a litmus test for assessments of China risk.
2. Italy has stripped China’s Sinochem of its influence as the largest shareholder in Pirelli, removing its right to appoint the CEO or set the tyremaker’s strategy. The Italian government invoked national security concerns about the potential for misuse of Pirelli’s chip technology, as well as Chinese Communist party interference, to justify the new restrictions on Sinochem.
3. SVB Financial Group has reached a deal to sell its investment banking division to a group led by some of its own top bankers, including Jeffrey Leerink, as well as a hedge fund, the Baupost Group. The unit, known as SVB Securities, has been for sale since Silicon Valley Bank’s failure in March sent tremors through the banking industry. Here’s more on the deal.
4. Ukraine has stepped up attacks this weekend on Russian arms depots and other targets deep in occupied territory. The strikes are aimed at supporting a counteroffensive that has made modest gains against heavily fortified Russian frontline positions.
5. Beijing’s attempt to persuade investors to value its giant state-owned enterprises according to their socialist credentials, rather than by conventional western capitalist measures, has flopped after a rally in their shares fizzled this month. Read more on Beijing’s new “valuation system with Chinese characteristics”.
The Big Read
The past 30 years have seen a rise in cases of so-called “early onset” cancer in younger people. The increase is so marked that leading epidemiologists have suggested it should be called an epidemic. Researchers have no definitive explanation for why people in the prime of life seem to be markedly more vulnerable to the disease than their counterparts in earlier generations.
We’re also reading . . .
Narendra Modi’s US visit: Concerns over democratic standards will be set aside as the US regales India’s leader this week, writes John Reed.
ChatGPT: OpenAI’s chief technology officer Mira Murati is expanding applications for ChatGPT after the chatbot’s extraordinary rise.
Rana Foroohar: A paradigm shift is under way in America’s political economy — even if the details are still catching up with the narrative.
Chart of the day
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The 2023 Forbes list shows that, worldwide, billionaires are down slightly in numbers and wealth from the pandemic peaks but still up sharply over the past two decades. There were almost 500 billionaires worth a total of less than $1tn in 2000; now there are more than 2,500 worth over $12tn.
Take a break from the news
Vogue Ukraine has become an unlikely voice of defiance since the Russian invasion. The magazine’s content reflects that, even in the most barbaric circumstances, people want a break. “There is no textbook on how to run a magazine, let alone a fashion title, during the war,” editor-in-chief Venya Brykalin told the FT’s Jo Ellison.
Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith
Source: Economy - ft.com
