Aurelia Butler

US secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo has told China’s number two official Premier Li Qiang that Washington does not want to decouple from the world’s second-largest economy and hopes to expand trade.Her meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with Li, a close confidant of President Xi Jinping and the head of China’s cabinet, comes as the US and China seek to restore dialogue after months of deteriorating bilateral relations. “President Biden asked me to come here to convey the message that we do not seek to decouple, we seek to maintain our $700bn commercial relationship with China, and we hope that that relationship can provide stability for the overall relationship,” Raimondo said at the start of the meeting with Li.Earlier, Raimondo met China’s economic policy chief, He Lifeng, and culture and tourism minister Hu Heping on the second day of a four-day visit to China. Her trip follows visits by secretary of state Antony Blinken and Treasury secretary Janet Yellen this year.US officials said their Chinese counterparts had been receptive to the talks with Raimondo. China, which is struggling to revitalise its economy after pandemic lockdowns last year, is seeking to reinvigorate foreign investment amid a deep property market downturn and falling exports. Raimondo and Hu agreed to hold a tourism conference in China in the first half of next year in an effort to revive travel between the two countries, which was curtailed during the pandemic. Raimondo said she and Hu had “agreed to work together to advance our people-to-people ties through increased tourism and educational and student exchange”.On Tuesday, US and Chinese officials also began a new dialogue on export controls, agreed by Raimondo with China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao on Monday.Washington described the talks between government officials on the “export control enforcement information exchange” as “a platform to reduce misunderstanding of US national security policies”. China’s ministry of commerce said the talks would serve to “exchange information related to export control, in accordance with their respective laws”.A senior US commerce official said their country viewed the exchange as a forum to increase transparency on its rules restricting trade and investment linked to sensitive areas of China’s economy, and not one for negotiating policy.President Joe Biden this month announced an executive order banning some US investment into China’s quantum computing, advanced chip and artificial intelligence sectors to stop the Chinese military from accessing American technology and capital.

China, for its part, has announced curbs on the export of gallium and germanium — used in chipmaking — and the use of Micron Technology products in its critical infrastructure.Beijing has also announced restrictions on the export of drones and drone components, citing their potential military use.The talks under the export control information exchange would be for government officials, the senior US commerce official said. The exchange of information was one of several new mechanisms agreed for dialogue between the two sides. “We need more channels of communication. A few CEOs said to me that they were desperate for more communication,” Raimondo told US business leaders on Monday. More

Vanguard’s support for environmental and social shareholder resolutions dropped sharply during the 2023 proxy season as it echoed other asset managers by criticising such proposals as “overly prescriptive”.Vanguard, which manages $7.2tn of assets, backed just 2 per cent of such proposals, compared with 12 per cent in 2022, the company said in a report on its voting record published yesterday.Last week BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, reported it voted in favour of roughly 7 per cent of all environmental and social proposals in the 12 months to June, down from last year when it backed 22 per cent and 2021 when it voted in favour of nearly half.Together, BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street control between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of most large US public companies through their huge index-tracking products and investment funds so their influence is enormous. Here’s more on the growing ESG backlash.More financial news: Goldman Sachs has agreed to sell one of its personal financial management divisions to Creative Planning, an investment and retirement adviser.Alternative investing: Fund flows into private equity, hedge funds, real estate and credit — so-called alternative investments — have slowed down this year, according to data provider Preqin. Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:Results: Best Buy and discount chain Big Lots are the latest retailers to report earnings. HP, Box and JM Smucker also report results.Economic data: The Case-Shiller index’s 20-city composite is expected to show home prices fell 1.3 per cent from a year ago in June, according to a Refinitiv poll of economists. We also get job openings data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and an update on consumer confidence from the Conference Board. Apple in court: The tech giant will be contesting a $2bn mass lawsuit at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal in which it is accused of hiding defective batteries in millions of iPhones by “throttling” them with software updates.Five more top stories1. Country Garden, one of China’s largest property developers, has asked for a grace period on a renminbi bond maturing next week. The request came a day after shares in Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, plunged 90 per cent after a year and a half suspension. The request is another sign of stress in China’s ailing property sector. 2. UK flight disruptions will take “days” to resolve, according to British transport secretary Mark Harper. Thousands of passengers were stranded yesterday after a “technical issue” led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights on one of the busiest days of the year. Here’s the latest on the transport chaos in the UK. 3. Exclusive: The EU is facing a battle to secure an additional €86bn to help finance Ukraine’s war effort over the next four years. The request has divided member states and led to calls for reductions and a longer approval timetable, according to people involved in talks. The debate has become a pivotal test of western resolve over Ukraine. War in Ukraine: Ukrainian forces have penetrated Russian defences at Robotyne, a strategic settlement that could open the way for advances further south.4. Spain’s regional football bosses have demanded that Luis Rubiales resign after he kissed Women’s World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso. This comes just hours after prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into the case and as his mother said she was going on a hunger strike to support her son. More on the scandal’s latest dramatic turn. Opinion: This needs to be an “enough” moment in a sport plagued by sexism and harassment against women, writes Simon Kuper.5. Donald Trump’s federal criminal trial on alleged election interference has been set for March 4 after a judge rejected his efforts to delay it until after next year’s presidential election. The date is one day before “Super Tuesday”, when Republicans in more than a dozen states are expected to vote for their party’s presidential nominee. Here’s why the former president has been trying to push back the legal proceedings.White House race: Republican senator Tim Scott and groups backing his presidential campaign have spent almost $50mn on election adverts — more than any other contender.News in-depth

The fortunes of downtown areas in the US have diverged since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, researchers at Georgetown University and the University of Chicago have found. Using smartphone data, housing prices and other factors from 274 US cities economists identified one class of city that had been restored to vibrancy and another that was empty and forlorn, with serious implications for real estate values and local tax receipts. We’re also reading . . . El Niño: The weather event is forecast to bring months of extreme heat to parts of south Asia and Central America, further straining global food output and stoking inflation.Europe’s new banks: Groups such as N26, Revolut and Monzo had high hopes of disrupting staid retail banking empires, but they are now struggling with profitability and culture issues.How to start your day like Jamie Dimon: Associate professor at the London School of Economics Grace Lordan studied the morning routines of many in business, including the chief executive of JPMorgan. Here’s what she found.Chart of the day

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As China slides into deflation consumers are thinking hard about how they spend their money. Consumers are putting off big purchases like houses, cars and trips abroad. FT reporters in China analyse what this means for the world’s second-largest economy. Take a break from the news. . . and drool over this two-tone chocolate cake, one of many reimagined plant-based recipes from Philip Khoury. Harrods’ head pastry chef sat down with — and baked for — the FT’s Ajesh Patalay to discuss his debut cookbook A New Way to Bake.

Philip Khoury’s two-tone chocolate cake © Matt Russell

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Benjamin Wilhelm More

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s financial regulator will closely monitor how central bank policy impacts regional banks, as the world’s third-largest economy approaches the normalisation of its monetary settings after years of massive easing.The Financial Services Agency (FSA) “will monitor how potential changes in the financial markets and client situations will affect regional banks’ profits and health,” the regulator said in its annual policy outlook released on Tuesday.The Bank of Japan last month modified its yield curve control (YCC) scheme and allowed interest rates to rise more flexibly, a measure officially targeted to sustain easing but seen by markets as a prelude to dismantling decades of stimulus.Higher interest rates could increase unrealised losses on domestic bonds held by Japanese banks, although such losses could be offset by stronger net interest margins from their lending business.Large banks have shortened the duration of their bond portfolios in anticipation of higher yields, but analysts say some smaller, regional banks do not have such flexibility.The FSA said in the policy outlook that it would “encourage regional banks to take necessary steps ahead of time” to address potential changes in the financial and economic situations.The policy outlook, set yearly, lays out guidelines for the FSA’s supervision and direction of banks and other financial firms. It also summarises upcoming legislative amendments. More

1. U.S. futures little changedU.S. stock futures were near flat Tuesday as investors awaited the release of fresh economic data and corporate earnings (see below).At 05:27 ET (9:27 GMT), the Dow futures and S&P 500 futures were little changed, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dipped 14 points or 0.1%.The main indices on Wall Street all closed in the green on Monday. It was their second consecutive winning session, a slight lift for stock markets that endured a tough August. Despite the increases, the benchmark S&P 500, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average are all on pace to finish lower on a monthly basis.2. Job openings survey ahead; Best Buy earnings loomTraders will have a chance to pick through data on job openings in the U.S. on Tuesday morning, along with a fresh batch of corporate results from the waning quarterly earnings season.Economists predict that the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, will show that the number of available positions dropped to about 9.47 million in July. That would be down from 9.58 million in the previous month – the lowest level in more than two years, but still indicative of a tight jobs market.The JOLTS report will serve as a prelude to the much-anticipated publication of the key U.S. nonfarm payroll figures later this week. The labor market has been a major focus of the Federal Reserve’s recent monetary tightening push, with policymakers hoping that a cooling in demand for workers will help ease inflationary pressures.On the earnings front, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is slated to report its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Observers will likely be keen to see how the electronics retailer has fared during a slowdown in consumer spending on nonessential items. In the first quarter, the company predicted that demand weakness should bottom out by the end of the year.Elsewhere, Chinese electric car group Nio (NYSE:NIO) will post returns before the bell, while personal computing firm HP (NYSE:HPQ) will report after markets close.3. Google to license maps data to companies – CNBCGoogle (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is planning to begin licensing mapping data to businesses constructing products focused on renewable energy, CNBC has reported.According to materials reviewed and cited by the network, the tech giant is preparing to sell access to new application programming interfaces that contain solar and energy information. Google is aiming to raise up to $100 million from these sales in its first year after launch, CNBC said.A broad list of firms are being targeted by Google as potential buyers of its solar API offering, CNBC said. An example list of possible customers includes solar installers SunRun (NASDAQ:RUN) and Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Tesla Energy, as well as real estate group Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) and utility PG&E (NYSE:PCG).Google, which did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, has been attempting to find means of generating revenue from its maps service to help offset wider economic uncertainty.4. Schumer’s to host Musk, Zuckerberg at AI summitU.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will host tech moguls Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg at a forum next month discussing the future of generative artificial intelligence, as U.S. officials ponder how to mitigate the possible dangers of the nascent technology.Along with Musk and Zuckerberg, Schumer’s office said the closed-door, bipartisan forum on September 13 will include Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) boss Satya Nadella.These leaders, as well as other executives from a vast range of companies, have talked up AI in recent weeks, fuelling speculation over its potential applications in a broad array of fields.Washington, however, has flagged some caution around the euphoria over AI. Earlier this year, Schumer suggested that “the best of the best” in the tech industry need to meet together to do “years of work in a matter of months.” The gathering would help establish a “new foundation” for AI policy, he added.The concerns were echoed by U.S. President Joe Biden, who said in June that AI could pose risks to both national security and the broader economy. He noted that he would seek expert advice on the topic.5. San Francisco Fed head of supervision to retire – reportsAzher Abbasi, the San Francisco Federal Reserve’s head of bank supervision, will retire at the end of October, according to multiple media reports.In an email first quoted by Bloomberg, the spokesperson added that Abbasi will be replaced on an interim basis by former Minneapolis Fed official Niel Willardson on October 1.Abbasi’s departure comes after he and current San Francisco Fed Governor Mary Daly came under intense scrutiny in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and other lenders earlier this year. The San Francisco Fed was responsible for overseeing the safety and soundness of small and medium-sized financial services companies like SVB.A report carried out by the Federal Reserve into the collapse of SVB found lapses in oversight, although it did not single out any specific Fed employees. A separate study from the Government Accountability Office in April said that the San Francisco Fed “lacked urgency” in its response to the crisis surrounding SVB. More

The government proposed scrapping the provision of non-taxable allowances for foreign workers in 2022, but decided to extend the scheme on a review basis until the end of this year.Foreign chambers of commerce and business organisations in China had been seeking urgent clarification on whether the government would further extend the policy that enables expatriates to benefit from taxable deductions on house rental, children’s education, language training, and other costs.”We believe that this will help to curtail further outflows of qualified international talent, while also providing multinational companies with clarity on their talent strategy regarding the deployment of expatriate staff and structuring of their packages,” said Kiran Patel, senior director at the China-Britain Business Council.”This announcement to extend the existing individual income tax regime is a genuine statement of commitment from the Chinese government to the multinational companies operating here.”As China’s economy slows, authorities have struggled to revive foreign investment with global firms unimpressed by new incentives they say fall far short of sweeteners once used to attract overseas money. More