the chip war continues. china slaps export controls on rare metals used in the manufacturing of semiconductors. the hong kong stock exchange looks to lure more international investors to the city even as tensions between the us and china's show no signs of easing. hello there and welcome to asia business report. our top story for you this morning, the latest chapter in a tit—for—tat war between washington and beijing after china slaps export controls on two rare metals that are used in the manufacturing of semiconductors.

the move also comes as janet yellen met with the chinese ambassador ahead of her visit to china this week. michelle fleury has more. us treasury secretary janet yellin is heading to beijing and hers is the second trip by a cabinet official to china since ties between the world's two top economies deteriorated earlier this year. her goal is to study the relationship but she has her work cut out for her. ahead of her visit beijing said it was imposing export controls on two rare metals essential for making semiconductors. this is seen as a tit—for—tat response after the us, the netherlands and japan recently restricted chip exports to china. some say the move is aimed at giving china more leverage in future trade discussions. gallium and germanium, the two metals in question will be subject to export control starting august one. in a statement, the chinese ministry of commerce said it was to protect national

security interest. china is the largest producer of gallium and germanium which are used in a variety of products including computer chips and solar panels. this is just the latest development in a global battle to control the chip making technology. those us—china tensions also put pressure on one of asia's largest financial markets. the operator of the hong kong stock exchange is now trying to attract more international listings and overseas investors by opening offices in places such as new york and london. earlier i spoke to the head of the hong kong exchange and clearing and ask how they have been affected by tensions. it has obviously been a difficult period during covid and this is precisely why we want to make sure that we are out there with international investors opening an office in new york, trying to make sure that we transmit the message of what is going on in our market and also seeking feedback in areas where we can continue to expand

our presence. we think of us as being economic shift from a west to east takes place, we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the great opportunities that we will have in the next few decades. that is the purpose, to try to make sure that we get everyone connected. at the same time, for example, hong kong police are issuing a bounty on democratic activists and we are talking about the national security law and the damage to hong kong's reputation as a financial centre. has that affected your business, do you think? from a commercial point of view, hong kong continues to be very vibrant and has special characteristics like the free flow of capital, free flow of information. it has a currency based on the us dollar. hong kong has a very attractive tax regime of around 15% in common law.

the national security has been applied on a narrow basis and therefore we have not seen an impact in terms of our market and last year, for example, volume went down about 20% but if we look at it compared to 2019 when it wasjust like before, like, the protests and covid, at that point our volume was about $87 billion, hong kong dollars per day and this year we are serving around 127, 128 which is comparable to last year. inafew in a few hours australia will be announcing its latest monetary policy decision. at monetary policy decision. at its two last meetings the cost of borrowing was hired to bringing interest rates to the highest rate in ii bringing interest rates to the highest rate in 11 years. still, consumer prices have remained stubbornly above the

central bank target. earlier i spoke to state street global markets who explained how he expected the rba to move. we do think that there _ expected the rba to move. we do think that there is _ expected the rba to move. we do think that there is a _ expected the rba to move. we do think that there is a rather - think that there is a rather high chance that they may hike once again as it has a recent history of surprising. some of the less enthusiastic members of the investor community who think the rba is going to stay on hold cited the very weak cpi number we saw last week but the underlying inflation, the core inflation, the inflation indicators the rba look at closely, they still remain significantly above target and given very strong areas of the australian economy, the labour market —— the labour market for example, we think it is prudent for the rba to hike once more. partly to catch up to other

global central banks as well. i want to ask you about the inflation rate. many governors talk about that lad after rate hikes and the impact on inflation. why is that impact been slow?— been slow? monetary policy im act been slow? monetary policy impact takes _ been slow? monetary policy impact takes time _ been slow? monetary policy impact takes time to - been slow? monetary policy impact takes time to feed . impact takes time to feed through. it takes time to feed through. it takes time to feed through to the real sector. as far as australia is concerned, what really matters here is the impact that interest rates will ultimately have for business and clearly also for the mortgage sector in australia. when there are rate hikes or cuts that will take time to feed through to the real sector but mortgage rates will adjust very quickly. but mortgage rates will ad'ust very “mi very quickly. twitter users will soon _ very quickly. twitter users will soon need _ very quickly. twitter users will soon need to - very quickly. twitter users will soon need to be - very quickly. twitter users l will soon need to be verified in order to use tweetdeck. that change will take effect in 30 days. it is currently free for all twitter users and the last people —— allows people to organise accounts they follow

into different columns. in countries like selangor and pakistan try to recover from their own economic crises they turn to financial institutions like the imf for help and they are not the only ones. africa has tap on the imf for help but the conditions attached to these loans have been criticised for increasing social inequality.- criticised for increasing social inequality. criticised for increasing socialineuuali. , . social inequality. this man was a trained nutritionist _ social inequality. this man was a trained nutritionist working i a trained nutritionist working in a major hospital —— this woman was a nutritionist before she was entrenched. she is now backin she was entrenched. she is now back in her village. that time my child was young, they were i had my mother to take care of so it was painful in the same government what it back to the village and i do it because i

have to survive.— village and i do it because i have to survive. she is one of 32,000 have to survive. she is one of 32.000 civil— have to survive. she is one of 32,000 civil servants - have to survive. she is one of 32,000 civil servants who - have to survive. she is one of. 32,000 civil servants who were retrenched by the kenyan government in the early 2000 as part of spending cuts in the public sector. a condition set by the imf to access alone. the current kenyan government says they are charting a different course when seeking new loans. there are many ways of staring down public service wages and what is not on the table in kenya is that of letting public servants go home. there is no intention either in the short medium or long—term to sack a civil servant in kenya. the situation _ civil servant in kenya. the situation is _ civil servant in kenya. the situation is not _ civil servant in kenya. the situation is not unique - civil servant in kenya. the situation is not unique to kenya. 0ther situation is not unique to kenya. other african governments have seen thousands of healthcare workers lose theirjobs, it causes vulnerable populations to bear the highest burdens. in 2021 a

global ngo recorded the loss of health workers between 2016 and 2021 following imf advice to cut spending in the health sector in several african countries. in ghana over 311,000 nurses were retrenched. in liberia, over5000 nurses were retrenched. in liberia, over 5000 nurses were sent home and in zimbabwe the figure was 110,600. in zambia over 15,000 nurses lost their jobs. actionaid says the cut represents a 15% loss in the number of nurses for each country. so can developing countries solely rely on bailouts from the imf and other financial institutions to address economic challenges? there is no substitute. you can run to the _ there is no substitute. you can run to the imf _ there is no substitute. you can run to the imf or— there is no substitute. you can run to the imf or the _ there is no substitute. you can run to the imf or the world - run to the imf or the world bank you will still have to come home to raise your revenue

domestically to service your debt. developing countries have a large informal sector who remain largely untaxed. designed to taxi income of workers so they can also contribute what they can to raising domestic revenue. for many like _ raising domestic revenue. for many like faith, _ raising domestic revenue. for many like faith, government needs to better educate their citizens and the trickle—down effect of economic policy negotiated at the top. before we go let's show you how japan's market is doing. it is down by 1% but it did end at the highest level in 33 years. a little profit—taking going on and the japanese yen, that we keep talking about, trading at 144.5, that is quite weak so export she is doing well is well. thank you so much for

watching, that is it for the programme. i actually thought at the time i must be dying or something, because i couldn't breathe, i had lights in my eyes, i thought i was going to pass out. i was brought up to the doctors and i was like, "i need some help, i don't know what is going on." andrew had no idea he was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks while working hard running his construction company. i had ignored it for so long, so that's where i ignored it for about a year because i didn't know that i needed it, i didn't think i needed any help. the gp dealt with the physical symptoms but andrew was finally able to talk when he met kerry from the charity mind, who he is now working with to encourage his staff to be more open about their mental health. gareth twohey has worked in the construction industry for decades and says there is what he calls a lads culture, where men don't feel comfortable talking about their mental health.

we want to build infrastructure, we want to build the building, get thejob done, work in the rain and snow, tough it out and suck it up. and there is a stigma in the industry that admitting mental health problem might affect theirjob. momentum is building towards a change in the industry that many feel has been quiet on mental health for too long. v0|ceover: for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zof, with the catch up! tonight — record—breaking weather, pride celebrations and wimbledon gets under way! and if you feel like it might have been hotter than usual recently, then science says you are right! the met office says last month was the uk's hottest june on record.

the average temperature hit 15.8 celsius, which is 0.9 celsius hotter than the previous record. but some environmental groups say the warmer temps are having big impacts on nature, with more reports of fish deaths and changes to flowers, affecting bugs and insects. some other stories now. parklife festival founder sacha lord has formally threatened legal action against the uk government over drug testing at festivals. he says festivals he says festivals had been doing had been doing this for at least ten this for at least ten years until last month, years until last month, when he was told when he was told a licence would be a licence would be needed for the first time. needed for the first time. but the government but the government says the permits have always been required. says the permits have always been required. and thousands have celebrated and thousands have celebrated london pride over the weekend. london pride over the weekend. the uk's biggest lg btq+ festival displayed colourful scenes as huge crowds joined the brightly coloured parades of floats, performers and dancers. and some good news for tennis fans — wimbledon is back for another year. men's defending champ novak djokovic

secured a win in the first round. he's going for a record 24th grand slam. and time now to leave you with 10 seconds of panda cuteness. zin zin has been celebrating her 33rd birthday with a specially made apple cake at her home in a mexico city zoo. she is one of the six longest—lived pandas in the entire world. and you're all caught up now. see ya later!