Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the Global Economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Good morning. China’s most-watched political event of the year begins today and all eyes are on Beijing’s plans to deal with the lagging Chinese economy, as well as geopolitical and demographic challenges.
President Xi Jinping is expected to resist growing market pressure for a major stimulus at the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament. Some believe the focus will be on industrial policy, with Beijing putting more money into advanced manufacturing.
Xi’s number two official, premier Li Qiang, is expected today to deliver a “work report” outlining targets for economic growth and military spending as well as policy priorities.
But in a break with precedent, Li will not hold a customary press conference as China’s premier has at the conclusion of the session every year since 1993, NPC spokesperson Lou Qinjian said yesterday.
David Bandurski, director of the China Media Project, said the scrapping of the press conference “at a time when there are [a] great deal of questions about the prospects for China’s economy . . . does not exactly inspire confidence.”
The Two Sessions — referring to the NPC and its affiliate advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — last for one to two weeks. Here’s more on what Beijing may be planning.
Chinese economy: China has unveiled regulations that aim to more tightly control the world’s largest pig population. Recent growth in herd numbers weighed heavily on pork prices, the most important component of China’s consumer price index, which has fallen drastically as a result.
And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
Economic data: South Korea publishes preliminary fourth-quarter GDP figures, while S&P Global February services PMI data is due for China, India, Japan and Australia.
Japan: Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda speaks at the FIN/SUM fintech summit in Tokyo.
Super Tuesday: More than a dozen US states hold primary contests. Read more on the pivotal day in the US presidential election campaign.
Follow the latest twists and turns of the US presidential campaign in the FT’s US Election Countdown newsletter. Sign up here.
Five more top stories
1. Brussels has fined Apple more than €1.8bn for stifling competition from rival music streaming services. EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said the tech giant had broken the bloc’s antitrust rules for a decade while abusing its dominant position for music streaming on its App Store. Here’s more on the larger than expected fine — and how Apple plans to respond.
2. The US Supreme Court has ruled Donald Trump can remain on the presidential primary ballot in Colorado, handing the former president a crucial legal win as he mounts another bid for the White House. The unanimous ruling yesterday overturned a decision from Colorado’s highest court that found the former president was not qualified to hold office because he had engaged in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
More from Washington: The US military’s attempt to halt Yemen-based attacks on Red Sea shipping is being hindered by insufficient intelligence about Houthi militants’ arsenal and full capabilities, according to American officials.
3. A UN report has found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Hamas committed rape and sexual violence against Israelis during its October 7 attacks. The report released yesterday said that there were also grounds to believe “rape and sexualised torture” was committed against hostages taken during the raid and may be ongoing against some of those still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Here are more details.
4. China is taking steps to level the playing field for its artificial intelligence start-ups, as the country’s tech giants hog AI-training computing resources already squeezed by US chip restrictions. At least 17 city governments have pledged to provide “computing vouchers” to subsidise AI start-ups facing rising data centre costs as supplies of crucial chips become more scarce.
5. French lawmakers have enshrined access to abortion in the country’s constitution in a global first that advocates of the move said was needed to prevent any future restrictions on reproductive rights. The move to pass an article that guarantees the “freedom . . . of women to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy” gained traction amid a rollback of reproductive freedoms in US and Poland.
News in-depth
The Chuan is drinks group Pernod Ricard’s sleek new whisky distillery in the western Chinese province of Sichuan. Far from Scotland, the home of Scotch, the $130mn project is one of around 30 whisky distilleries either completed or under construction in China, as western companies are aiming to support the market’s growth by investing in local production of a spirit yet to take off fully with Chinese consumers.
We’re also reading . . .
Women on Wall Street: Though overt gender discrimination is thankfully much rarer, it feels as if some things are going backwards, writes Brooke Masters.
Working from home: As many professional workers have settled into now well established hybrid work patterns, banks have stood out in recent weeks for the battles they are still having with staff.
QT impacts: Now that we have some evidence of how quantitative tightening works, central banks should be more comfortable shrinking their balance sheets in the future, writes Kristin Forbes of the MIT-Sloan School of Management.
Chart of the day
US defence contractors are missing out on a global military boom that has boosted their European counterparts’ share prices. The underperformance comes as political “chaos” in Washington creates uncertainty over government spending.
You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.
Take a break from the news
Last year, Makiko Ono became one of Japan’s few female chief executives when she was elevated to the top position at Suntory Beverage & Food. She reflects on her setbacks and successes along the way in an interview with the FT.
Additional contributions from Grace Ramos and Gordon Smith
Recommended newsletters for you
Working It — Everything you need to get ahead at work, in your inbox every Wednesday. Sign up here
One Must-Read — The one piece of journalism you should read today. Sign up here
Source: Economy - ft.com
