Top Stories Today is a short-form audio digest of the day’s top headlines. Find the latest episode here.
China’s president Xi Jinping has met Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, in a rare face-to-face encounter with an overseas official as Beijing maintains strict coronavirus prevention measures ahead of the Winter Olympics in February.
The discussions on Tuesday between Bach and Xi, who has not left the country since early 2020, included the closed-loop system for the Beijing Games, which is designed to inhibit any transmission of the virus from Olympic participants to the wider population.
Bach praised China’s “efficiency, determination and dynamism” and said Beijing’s measures would ensure a “safe, smooth and successful” Winter Games, according to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.
The IOC has come under intense scrutiny over its relationship with China and was criticised for its failure last year to back calls for an investigation into tennis star Peng Shuai’s allegations of sexual assault against a former top Chinese official.
What are your thoughts on the Winter Olympics being held in Beijing? Tell me what you think at firstft@ft.com. Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia. Here’s the rest of today’s news — Emily
Five more stories in the news
1. West commits to keeping Nato open to new members The US and Nato told Moscow they were committed to keeping the transatlantic alliance open to new members, rebuffing a central Russian security demand in written responses that could determine the outcome of the Ukraine crisis.
Related read: The European Central Bank has warned lenders with significant Russian exposure to ready themselves for the imposition of international sanctions against Moscow if it invades Ukraine.
2. Fed signals March rate rise as it fights rampant inflation The Federal Reserve signalled its intention to raise interest rates in March, the first increase since 2018, underscoring the US central bank’s abrupt pivot to fighting rampant inflation as opposed to shielding the economy from the pandemic.
More US news: Stephen Breyer, the 83-year-old liberal member of the US Supreme Court, plans to retire this year, according to media reports. Sign up for our Swamp Notes newsletter for the latest on the intersection of US politics, power and money.
3. Apple earns top smartphone spot in China Apple has reclaimed the top smartphone seller spot in China for the first time in six years as biting US sanctions throttled shipments from rival Huawei. The California company cornered 23 per cent of the world’s largest phone market in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to research group Counterpoint.
4. Banks push back against Beijing’s overseas listing rules Asia’s top banking lobby group, which includes Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, have warned Beijing that an overhaul of the regime for Chinese businesses listing overseas may deter them from advising on initial public offerings, which would imperil a funding source for the country’s leading companies.
5. Amazon abandons campaign designed to attract staff Amazon has abandoned its much-maligned campaign of paying employees to share positive messages on social media, scrubbing online messages that were meant to improve the tech giant’s image to potential workers it needs to achieve continued growth.
Coronavirus digest
Boris Johnson on Wednesday vowed he would not quit as prime minister, as he prepared to receive a delayed report into lockdown-breaking parties in Whitehall by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant.
South Korea’s consumer confidence rose this month, rebounding from a fall in December and helped by the continued economic recovery from the pandemic.
Denmark has become the latest European country to lift almost all Covid curbs and stop designating it a “societally critical” disease.
The IMF downgraded its 2022 global economic growth forecasts, warning that the recovery will run into “multiple challenges” including higher inflation. Catch up on Martin Wolf’s takeaways from the report.
The new variant has exposed dysfunction in America’s public health institutions. “The underlying theme is inflexibility, both with resources and ideology,” says one expert.
The day ahead
Honduras’ first female president sworn in Xiomara Castro is to be sworn in as the nation’s first female president after winning in a high-turnout landslide in November.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day Today marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz.
Opinion: Earlier this month, FT’s Sarah Ebner reflected on her experience on receiving a European passport after Austrian citizenship was finally restored to families of Nazi victims.
Earnings In a big day for earnings, companies reporting results include Apple, Deutsche Bank, easyJet, JetBlue Airways, LVMH, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Samsung Electronics, SAP and Visa. We apologise for incorrectly stating the day of Apple’s earnings in yesterday’s edition. They will be reported on Thursday in the US.
Join us for the FT’s Future of Business Education: Spotlight on MBA the ultimate guide to educating global business leaders. This event offers both young professionals and seasoned executives an ideal opportunity to find out how to enhance their skill set and accelerate their careers through an MBA. Register today.
What else we’re reading and watching
International investors in Chinese companies face growing risks As property companies such as Evergrande teeter on the brink of collapse and the Chinese government cracks down on the tech sector, are the opportunities to make money worth the growing political risk? The FT’s global China editor James Kynge and markets editor Katie Martin discuss.
When an activist investor attack is no bad thing Activist investor demands — like those at Unilever and Peloton — can spur self-satisfied executives to action, pressure boards into dealing with incompetent managers and question poorly thought out mergers and acquisitions. All of this is badly needed right now, argues Brooke Masters.
South Korean crypto exchange plans ‘eco-friendly’ K-pop NFTs The head of Upbit, South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has promised that its non-fungible tokens featuring K-pop stars BTS will be “eco-friendly” after a backlash from environmentally conscious young fans.
San Francisco is scaring away the tech crowd As a failure to tackle the epidemic of poverty continues, start-up founders, engineers and venture capitalists are leaving the city. If the city wants its tech crown back it cannot afford to just continue as normal, writes Hannah Murphy.
You call that a party, Boris Johnson? It is unclear just how long the list of political casualties from the lockdown-breaching Downing Street BYOB bash may be, but those who don’t make it back are going to spend the rest of their lives asking, was it really worth it for a glass of lukewarm merlot and a bit of cheese roulade? asks Robert Shrimsley.
Work and careers
Hybrid work is polarising. But why? In this episode of the Working It podcast, Isabel Berwick talks to Camilla Cavendish and Pilita Clark about why it has become the most divisive topic in workplaces right now.
Source: Economy - ft.com
