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tv   Bloomberg Daybreak Asia  Bloomberg  May 21, 2020 7:00pm-9:00pm EDT

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haidi: very good morning. i am haidi stroud-watts in sydney. we are counting down shery: asia's major market opens. shery:i am shery ahn in new york. china opens its most important political event of the year amid souring u.s. ties and threats of tough new curbs on hong kong. we are in beijing. stocks slide but oil heads for a fourth week of gains with u.s. crude posting its longest winning streak in more than a year.
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opec's cuts may be draining the glut. the bank of japan prepares for unscheduled talks as the coronavirus keeps extra pressure on the economy. help for small business tops the agenda. downside are seeing a start to trading on this final friday session of the week. overwhelmingly, the concern over these escalating tensions between washington and beijing, and now also, beijing's expected move to impose the national security law on hong kong and we are watching, in particular, the start of mainland trading as well as hong kong trading and trading in the hong kong dollar but in the meantime, we are seeing a downside view when it comes to nikkei futures as well as kospi. sydney futures looking to extend losses of .4% in the previous session although we could expect to see some modest gains when it comes to the energy sector given the gains and that story when it comes to the continued rally in oil prices. we are also watching trading in
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new zealand. we had retail sales numbers out in the last hour or so showing a contracting but not as much of the deep contraction as was expected in the first quarter given the scale and restrictions we saw with the pandemic lockdown in new zealand. share a. ry.cher e -- she shery: the opening of the pboc could add geopolitical tension over proposed national security law which would curb dissent in hong kong and the u.s. is already responding. let's bring in our chief washington correspondent, kevin cirilli, who is with the under secretary of state for economic growth. kevin: thank you. we are joined by our guests, who joins us. i want to get to that first and foremost, mr. undersecretary. bipartisan legislation was introduced in the senate in response to china carrying and proposing for some controversial new measures as it relates to hong kong. president trump this afternoon
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declined to comment publicly so far on these measures, but this proposal in congress would issue sanctions to businesses and individuals in china should they cooperate with it. can you give us an update or any comment at all in response to what we are seeing with regards coming beijing to hong kong? >> kevin, thank you so much for having me back on your program. it is deeply concerning to the united states. hong kong is a great friend to us, and we are monitoring this situation closely. we are going to see it as it develops. meanwhile, your team has just announced within the last couple of days that $12 billion coming fromestment the taiwan semiconductor manufacturing corporation, a $12 billion investment in the state of arizona. what does this do for silicon valley.
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what does this do for the semiconductor industry? this was part of our 5g trifecta and then that we made on friday. it is an absolute game changer. not only is it the biggest on shoring in u.s. history, but it is critical to national security. it plays a very critical role in terms of the semiconductor business and they are going to be bringing their entire supply chain with them. it bolsters american national security, and our economic prosperity, so with that said, it will create thousands of american jobs, and tsmc, high tech chips. it is a five nanometer plan, state-of-the-art. it will impact daily lives for people around the world, and it will make made in america once valleyyou know, silicon
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semiconductor was invented in the united dates, and it brings it back. the deal also strengthens our relationship with taiwan. a vibrant democracy, a force for good in the world, and a real good friend of the united states, just like hong kong. kevin: you and i have talked about this before, mr. undersecretary, about how the state department is working in the longer term to try to develop international standards on a host of different standards as it relates to energy and 5g. this is just the latest illustration of that. can you talk more broadly about the u.s. foreign policy goals in the long term in developing those internationals to enter with europe -- international standards with europe, hong kong? keith: this is part of our economic prosperity network initiative. and what that is, it is comprised of countries, like mining countries, companies, civil society, that operate under a set of principles.
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those principles in the united states, we would call them american values. in europe, democratic values. but more translated globally, trust principles and those are basic things like integrity, accountability, respect for rule of law, respect for sovereignty of nations, respect for property of all kinds, respect for the planet, respect for human rights, respect for the planet, transparency. all of those things, and the economic prosperity network encompasses all areas of economic collaboration. commerce, trade, investment, energy, digital, infrastructure, supply chain, research. kevin: i want to talk about the supply chains because as you look at the $12 billion investment in arizona as part of you talkn agreement,
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also about diversifying and disentangling some of the u.s. interest from china. how important is that? literally,her day -- there was more bipartisan legislation coming from congress that would require those chinese companies that are traded publicly on u.s. exchanges to be able to be subjected to the same type of regulations on the exchanges as other countries, firms, and u.s. firms. youh: yes, and i think what see in congress is a reflection of what citizens here in the u.s. are seeing, and actually, citizens around the world, and i think people are waking up to the fact of the communist party three-pronged strategy of concealment, co-option, and coercion. so the pandemic is a result of concealment of the virus, co-option is the entanglement of
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the supply chains, and then you see with china's so-called face diplomacy isa c -- really seduction and coercion in terms of we want you to do these things. we will aid you. countries are seeing that, citizens are seeing that, and they do not like it. that is giving the political will to government officials all over the world. kevin: two more questions for you. when you talk to leaders in silicon valley about these issues, what do you from them -- hear from them? pompeoi hosted secretary out in silicon valley for four days. we met with many of the top leaders out there. you know, one of the things i said to him after spending 30 years in silicon valley and knowing all these guys is, guys, we always say corporate responsibility is social responsibility. well, it is also level economic
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security because just as the threat to democracy is real and urgent, so is the threat to your businesses, because it seems like the battleground between democracy and regime is the technological battlefield. and they know it because they have had their intellectual property stolen. they have been coerced in terms of handing over proprietary technology. so they feel that. they are right along, i think, with businesses all over the u.s., and actually, all over the world. kevin: and this is really a nonpartisan issue, it sounds like. keith: by the way, it is a totally nonpartisan issue. i think it is the most unifying issue, whether it is in congress, democrats, republicans, you can see it. you know, and i think everybody has woken up and said, look, we
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cannot look through rose colored glasses, as secretary pompeo would say. we have to treat them not how we hoped they would be, but how they are. kevin: just one final question. a lot of reports about the inspector general, has that impacted in any way your ability to conduct your ability to do your job? keith: none whatsoever. kevin: alright. we will leave it there. mr. undersecretary, thank you for talking to bloomberg television and for bloomberg radio. i am kevin cirilli. haidi, i will toss it back to you. haidi: great conversation with the under secretary of state for economic growth and our chief washington correspondent, kevin cirilli there. coming up next, more on these tensions throughout the course of the day. we will be joined by the u.s.-china business council, eurasia group, and peking university of china. they will all join us later. we are just getting some breaking news crossing the
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bloomberg when it comes to fitch ratings outlook on australia, cut to negative from stable by fitch. fitch seeing australia gdp growth of 4.8% in 2021 and seeing a contraction for australian gdp growth of 5% in 2020. the negative outlook, fitch says, affecting the outlook of the coronavirus endemic on australia's economy and its public finances. they see a sharp fall in growth and government spending in response to the economic crisis will cause large fiscal deficits and a sharp increase in that to gdp, hence that revision downwards. the treasury in the meantime do expect that australia will retain 60%. -- the measures are being used in stages across parts of the country.
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shery: the pandemic having an impact on individual firms. we are getting and other it on the bloomberg. ibm is cutting jobs in a far-reaching workforce reduction. ibm confirmed the move. they have declined to comment on the size of the cut but of course we know that the virus is putting pressure on their sales growth as they really have tried to reach their goal of becoming one of the leading hybrid cloud providers. this coming on top of data here in the u.s. of more than 2.4 million new jobless claims by last week. almost 4 million americans have lost their jobs in the last nine weeks. japan's core inflation gauge likely turned negative in april, the first year on year drop since summer 2016. we will analyze with the former boj board member, plus another guest from robertson stephens wealth management has been advising businesses for 30 years. jeanette explains why the virus could be this century's moonshot, next. this is bloomberg. ♪
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karina: you are watching "daybreak asia." i am karina mitchell with the first word headlines. nancy pelosi says the house will review the senate bill that will chineseestrictions on companies posting listings in new york. she admitted that legislation had broad two-party support in the senate said the house would give it consideration. the bill puts further pressure on u.s.-china ties amid coronavirus blame and tech restrictions on huawei. japan may lift the state of emergency in tokyo as soon as monday if the downward trend in coronavirus infections continues there. restrictions have been used in osaka and surrounding regions but the capital and nearby areas and hokkaido must wait a little bit longer. shinzo abe says the government will always put people's safety first amid fears of a second wave of infections. vietnam has been one of the success stories of the pandemic, reporting just 324 cases of the
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virus and no deaths. it was also one of the earliest to reopen business and the prime minister tells bloomberg he is targeting gdp growth between 5% and 7% for the year. he says that would make vietnam the best performer in all of asia. given these circumstances, it is not possible for us to ensure that gdp growth that we expected in the beginning of 2020 will be met. we have to adjust the projected gdp growth and certain macroeconomic indices such as overspending as well as the gains of the national budget. therefore, we have set the gdp growth for 2020 to be 5% year on. i believe that this is the highest gdp growth expectation in asia at the moment. karina: india's biggest store for two decades has cut power to millions in the northeastern city of kolkata. the cyclone is weakening into a
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tropical depression as it moves towards bangladesh. millions of people have been moved amid concern that virus cases may surge in storm shelters. india was already facing the full year contraction while fitch has cut growth forecasts for bangladesh. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am karina mitchell. this is bloomberg. shery: there's a lot on investors minds ahead of trading on friday. the china's national people's congress, increasingly frosty relations with the u.s. and congress. let's discuss all this with jeanette garrity. great to have you with us. tolly a lot for investors digest, whether it is monetary or fiscal policy, not to mention geopolitical tensions. what will be most important for investors going forward into the rest of the year? jeanette: you would like to see
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earnings, but in saying things that encompasses all of this that is going on, and i must say mood here inthe the united states is one of let's just let everything be a little bit stable so that we can focus on opening up and moving forward, but of course, nothing is stable these days. is onhink that the focus opening up and what that is going to mean for earnings and certainly what that is going to and for employment demand increasingly, it is a focus for many investors on those issues, those same issues, worldwide. because it is still a globalized economy. shery: when it comes to earnings, how much are investors really considering potential additional costs post pandemic that could actually weigh on margin? jeanette: i do not think they
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are focused on that much at all right now. but it is going to get their attention pretty quickly. i think the focus has been so much on can you open up, what are the ways to open up, that lost in this a bit has been the costs,he employee health running multiple shifts, you name it, it is there. but now, we are starting to hear from companies saying, well, the good news is i am opening up. the bad news is it is a little bit expensive to open up. haidi: right, so do we see this period then as the money that has to be spent, the investment that has to be made, for future benefits? jeanette: well right now, it is money that has to be made -- excuse me, money that has to be spent to just open up and find
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out if you have got a market there and how are you going to be able to address it? i do think there's a lot of creative thinking that is coming out around this, and some of that is going to be a long-term benefit. i do think that, as we move farther through this, we will be giving more and more weight to the innovation that we are going to start to see, anything from robotics to materials, technology, to obviously, in health care. what sort of advice are you giving to your clients as to how to navigate the next steps forward given that we do not have a clear idea of what the post pandemic level of growth and economic activity is going to look like? jeanette: be careful out there. we need to be careful out there. general hasice in
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been, if you can see a business model that was doing very well going into this, most likely, that will be a business model that will be able to come back, and if there is a management team that is sitting on top of that business model that has a track record for innovation and flexibility and creative thinking, then that is good. at is ayou are looking business model that was a little bit broken going into this pandemic, chances are, it is going to be seriously pressured by the challenges of the virus, and on those, we want to be very, very careful. price earnings ratios are wonderful to look at if you understand what the earnings are going to be. that is the biggest trick. shery: when it comes to the size of these companies, what are you looking at? we continue to see the resilience with these large
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caps, especially when it comes to tech stocks that have really lots of capital at their disposition but at the same time, we have seen a bounceback when it comes to the russell 2000 and those domestically focused stocks. do think that these solutions, a lot of these solutions, the apparent solutions right now to opening up in this pandemic are expensive solutions. larger companies have a greater ability to poll on resources and address this, but as we go forward, we are going to see more and more as we get better insight into individual company behaviors. we will see more that is interesting in the rest of the space. that was robertson stephens principal jeanette garrety joining us. you can get around up of the stories you need to know in
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today's edition of daybreak. bloomberg subscribers can go to dayb on their terminals and it's also available on mobile in the bloomberg anywhere app. this is bloomberg. ♪
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haidi: quick check of the latest business flash headlines this hour. morgan stanley says it does not expect to return to normal office space work this year. they said the bank is working on a post virus environment and it will not force staff to return to the office too soon. he says he expects about have to be back this year but the figure significantly across morgan stanley's global operations. facebook aims to hire more remote workers in areas where it does not have a physical often's presence and will employees work from home permanently if they so wish. mark zuckerberg says the hiring plan will start immediately,
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particularly in engineering. he says remote work could make up as much as 50% of facebook's workforce. ifyp if i is joining -- shop is joining peers in remote working. it plans to keep office is closed for the rest of the year as it redesigns office space for what it calls a digital by default mindset. the ceo said he is comfortable with remote working and physical offices will be limited to no more than 25% capacity after the pandemic. shery: let's get you a quick check up on how markets are trading at the moments. we are seeing nikkei futures under pressure, down .5%, extending the losses we saw yesterday. the japanese yen holding steady at that 107 level. this coming at a time when we are waiting that boj can see meeting to start. not much is expected out of that meeting. aremain stimulus measures expected to stay unchanged, but
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funding for struggling businesses will take center stage in those discussions. u.s. futures up .3%. this after u.s. stocks fell. we had rising u.s.-china trade tensions. all of that weighing on sentiment, not to mention jobless claims again coming in at more than 2 million last week. wti futures at the moment down of, curbing six sessions gains, the longest winning streak in more than a year. as we continue to see the signs that the market is rebalancing. coming up next, japan's april inflation data is due after the break. why the numbers are likely to be negative for the first time since 2016. we will discuss. this is bloomberg. ♪ staying connected your way is easier than ever.
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haidi: we are watching the japanese yen. big day in terms of expectations of japan's cpi data that is set to cross the bloomberg any moment now. in fact, we are getting that cpi, including fresh food yuan year for april, a contraction of .2% that is slightly worse than the 0.1 percent contraction expected. the national headline cpi year 0.1%, a a gain of little bit more sluggish than the gain of .2% we were expecting. stripping out fresh food and energy, highly volatile factors. we are meeting expectations of a gain of .2% for the month of
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april. and of course, in terms of that year on year number, it was not as bad as expected because we were expecting the first year on year drop since december 2016. low energy prices over that period would be a key factor but of course, also, the weak demand from the coronavirus law downs as well and we are also looking ahead to that bank of japan meeting, emergency meeting from the boj to flesh out some of that funding plans of the measures today. that's get some analysis. joining us on the line through tokyo is a university professor and think of japan policy board member. wait to see you again. what are your expectations? does this move the needle for the boj? we no inflation has been, even prior to the virus, and will continue to be sluggish. willthink inflation deteriorate further.
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energy prices -- also from april. you know, the government is providing subsidies to the high school education for the poor families, and that is starting from april, so that gives a downward pressure. together with energy, you know, thisnergy pricing, and policy, and also hotel and accommodation fees, i think we expect to see a negative growth for some time. haidi: right, so in terms of what the boj can do in its emergency meeting today, we are expecting a little bit more detail in terms of their funding plans. is there anything more extraordinary that the central bank could even do for it to have any kind of payoff that would make it worthwhile? sayuri: i do not think the boj
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is going to do anything bold. very aggressive approach this reluctant to do aggressive moves at this time. i think what they are going to do today is that they are going to provide more lending programs. they provide very small subsidies. that is what we are all expecting. it is very difficult to imagine. shery: when you talk about the reluctance of the bank of japan to do more, does this also reflect the fact that perhaps they do not really have many more tools left? sayuri: right. but they can invent. they can be more flexible. and they can be more innovative. for example, when we look at the
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federal reserve, they came up together and then created the special-purpose facilities, and from there, they are trying to buy new corporate bonds. they are also assisting the local government, but also, it is going to buy the bank loans. of four-year bank loans provided to the private sector. that is very bold. i do not see that kind of very bold, innovative approaches for the bank of japan. i think the bank of japan wants to make sure that they are independent, so maybe they want to it by themselves. i do not see any clear collaboration at this stage. does that also signaled that the boj thinks the government should do more despite the record fiscal stimulus package that we have already seen from the japanese
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government? what else could shinzo abe do at this point? sayuri: yes. prime minister abe, this economic stimulus package in april but the cash transfer to the individual and companies, small companies, was not sufficient. moment, the prime minister is looking at the secondary budget but it appears to be very small. i think the government is very much worried about growing debt, so very reluctant to increase a lot of spending. not not want to say we are doing anything. we are trying to do some various things. it is not as bold as i see in other countries. in terms of the earnings season and the outlook for japan, it has been pretty ugly. we have seen 80% of the topics listed -- topix listed companies
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report and a 30% fall in operating profit which would make it the worst since the financial crisis. what are the prospects for recovery and how quickly and i suppose strongly could you see that happen? sayuri: i think recovery is very slow because before covid-19 happened, the japanese economy was defending on the manufacturing sector and that was already weakening because of the global economic deterioration. --o, the services sector because all of a sudden, the foreign tourists stopped coming to japan. transportation sectors are so weak. it is difficult for me to see a quick recovery even though the state of emergency declaration is eliminated. -- budget for that to have a meaningful impact on these strengths -- the strength
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of the reopening and consumers to get back on track before we see travel restrictions being lifted? sayuri: no choice for the government to keep providing the cash transfer to the people who are affected because what they did is that they provided cash transfer to everybody. there are people who are suffering more than others, so for example, single mothers, they are very much suffering, but you know, everybody got the uniforms, small amount. that is not enough. i think the government has city targeted policy, and try to support the people who are really needed. in order to do that, the central government has to provide more support to the local government because the local government has more information. to the individual people. so i think that is more effective. so far, i have not seen such action yet. shery: talking about the
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vulnerable in japan, what about those temporary workers? we always talk about the labor shortage in japan but now it seems temporary work is affected. sayuri: exactly. it is easy for the government -- sorry, for the company to lay off the temporary workers. they are the people who are mostly suffering. some of the people, not easy to get some subsidy from government, and because of this complex occupational classification, yes, definitely, the people who are temporary workers, they are suffering a lot, so a lot of people are finding it difficult to even pay rent, so i think that is why the government has to do more refined approaches to the targeted people and using local government. shery: always great having your insights, sayuri shirai. coming up next, china is moving to impose new national security
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laws that would give the communist party more control over hong kong. details, next. this is bloomberg. ♪
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karina: you are watching "daybreak asia." i am karina mitchell at the first word headlines. brazil has reported a daily record at 1188 deaths from the coronavirus, confirming and it is the latest pandemic hotspot.
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the country of 210 million people reported 18.5 thousand new cases, slightly down on two days a record infection levels. almost two thirds of all brazilian cities have now been hit by the virus and 70% of the victims were over 60 years old. thenam has been one of success stories of the pandemic, reporting 324 cases of coronavirus and no deaths. it was also one of the earliest to reopen business and the prime minister tells bloomberg he is targeting gdp growth of between 5% and 7% for the year. who said that would make vietnam the best performer in all of asia. given these circumstances, it is not possible for us to ensure that gdp growth that we expected in the beginning of 2020 will be met. we have to adjust the projected gdp growth in certain macroeconomic indices such as overspending as well as gains of
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the national budget. therefore, we have set the gdp growth for 2020 to be 5% year on. thelieve that this is highest gdp growth expectation in asia at the moment. karina: china has launched its premier political event of the year after a two-month delay because of the coronavirus outbreak. delegates observed social distancing as the communist party gathered at the great hall of the people in beijing for the national people's congress. friday will see china's leaders discuss economic goals, the fallout from the pandemic, and hear premier li keqiang's speech. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am karina mitchell. this is bloomberg. shery: hong kong will be in focus at the national people's congress today amid reports china may move to impose controversial national security laws, potentially bypassing hong kong's legislature. for more, we are joined by our
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chief north asia correspondent, stephen engle. how significant with this be, and more importantly, can this be done? stephen: it can be done under article 18 of the basic law, which basically says that if hong kong is not determined that it can handle its own turmoil, then national laws can be applied to hong kong. paraphrase of course, the basic law, which is a mini constitution but it centers around article 23 of hong kong's ini law, which is intended to curb terrorism in hong kong, but of course, pro-democracy advocates say it could be used to crackdown on broader freedoms in hong kong and therefore, crackdown on what we have seen over the last year, and that is street protests. that started against the extradition bill, but it ended up being a broader protest
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against what were perceived to be interferences from beijing and of course and erosion of their rights -- an erosion of their rights in hong kong. we are starting to see outrage from opposition lawmakers as well as pro-democracy advocates as a whole here, who say that the npc, if they do bypass the local legislature and enact or withouthe security laws the blessing of the local that basically, it bypasses or threatens one country, two systems framework and the promises beijing has laid out in the joint declaration of high-level autonomy for hong kong, so it is ,nother chapter, and escalation if you will, in beijing's assertion of its control over hong kong. steve, what is the reaction we have seen from hong
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kong so far? stephen: already, we have heard through social media, the protesters are calling for citywide demonstrations. they called for that last night across all of the districts of hong kong. one poster on social media said this is a battle of life and death. those mask protests, they did not necessarily serialized last night. the weather, keep in mind, is pretty rotten right now, and i think a lot of people are probably digesting what the national people's congress is actually going to do, and then it could still be a couple of months away before this is past. there's a lot of procedural steps that are needed to pass this, including passage by the standing committee. however, all of these steps are seeing pretty much as rubberstamp moves. theave heard from opposition lawmaker. he represents the legal sector in hong kong. i will read his quote. he says this is the end of hong kong. i foresee that the status of hong kong as an international city will be gone very soon.
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we have gotten some words from the white house and donald trump as well as the state department. donald trump saying he will address this issue very strongly is passed. we also have two u.s. senators who have introduced new legislation in washington to possibly punish chinese entities involved in enforcing this proposed new security law on hong kong, so this has really ratcheted up the geopolitical tension between china and the united states. china, for its part, in a commentary in the state run china daily newspaper saying ort this article 23, whatever iteration china imposes on hong kong, is absolutely necessary, and i will read the quote from the china daily. "there is nothing untoward in this. all countries attached the utmost significance to national security and the introduction of central law will safeguard the long-term stability and prosperity of hong kong." by now, that is being questioned
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by the opposition and those who support democracy in hong kong. stephen engle in hong kong with the very latest. we will continue to get more views from both sides, including reaction to china's move to oppose -- impose these laws on hong kong. we will be joined by a guest. that interview within the hour. nancy pelosi says the chamber will review the senate bill imposing restrictions on chinese companies listing in the u.s. but stopped short of promising a vote. she also told us that a coronavirus testing scheme has to be at the heart of plans to reopen the u.s. economy. that issues like unemployment insurance, food stamps, and the rest, really provide stimulus to the economy, and we have to do that. we think, in our package, the heroes act, that we do just exactly that. a scientific pact to open the
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economy safely, safely, and soon. supporting our heroes, to keep those jobs in place, which is important, which are important to the economy, and again, the stimulus that money in the pockets of the american people provides. >> the question on everyone's mind is the prospects of passage, of the heroes act, or something like it, and when it might happen. we heard from secretary mnuchin that he talked to you about something that needs to be done. not sure how quickly president trump said he is working with mitch mcconnell's senate majority leader on some kind of package. are you in active negotiations and how much hope do you have that we will have something relatively soon? >> the american people fully support what we are doing. , they supporteady the provisions of our bill and oppose the senate obstructing it. i have confidence in public opinion.
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also, when it is bipartisan across the country. we have less than $1 trillion that goes to state, localities, tribes, and territorial jobsnments that provides for people across the country, so we have democratic and republican mayors, governors, county executives, and the rest, very enthusiastic about the legislation and making their voices known to the members of the united states senate. this is very unusual that we have such a strong bipartisan advocacy for legislation of this kind, which is meeting resistance in the senate, but i do not think for long, because what we have in the bill is disciplined, it is focused, it is all necessary, and it has broad bipartisan support in the country. it is just a matter of time. they want a pause but as i have said here before, hunger does not take a pause.
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losing your job does not take a pause. paying the rent does not take a pause. we really need to meet the needs of the american people, and at the same time, provide stimulus to the economy. >> sorry. >> i was just saying, you mention mnuchin, but also, the head of the fat, chairman of the fed, powell, has said that his responsibility of elected representatives to spend -- use the tax-and-spend responsibilities we have in a way that helps the economy, and he has indicated that there is need for more. what theed to ask you inspector general -- one quick shot about -- thought about china. there is a legislation including possibly delisting some chinese companies. will it make it through the house? might it have ramifications for the markets overall? >> this is something we just
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learned of. it passed with unanimous consent so there is not much debate. we do not know who voted. it is unanimous consent. we will have my committees take a look at what that is. i take second place to no one in senate,ress, house, or in my criticisms of china's trade policies over decades. human rights policies, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, people of hong kong, tibet, they have been very oppressive and even more so, but the fact is, we have to judge -- we have to have a relationship with china, and we judge every action as to what it means to us as well as what it means to them, so i look forward to seeing that. it is interesting that it had such unanimous support in the senate. that was nancy pelosi speaking to bloomberg's david westin. plenty more to, on "daybreak
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asia." this is bloomberg. ♪
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>> let's get a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. ibm has cut an unspecified number of jobs across five states in the u.s. bloomberg is being told employees have been laid off in north carolina, pennsylvania, california, missouri, and new york, where the company is based. the layoffs could begin the fallings after years of
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revenues and now, the coronavirus. ibm employees more than 350 thousand people in 170 countries. borders reports baidu is considering delisting from the nasdaq and moving to an exchange closer to home. discussions are set to be at an early stage and come one day after the senate passed a bill to bar listed companies that may be under the control of foreign governments. baidu merely says it is undervalued. a spokesperson told bloomberg a move is rumored and declined to comment further. alibaba reports fourth-quarter earnings later friday with investors looking for further signs of an economic recovery in china as it emerges from the coronavirus. analysts expect a rise in online sales showing an improvement in national retail trends. the results, as alibaba is facing increased scrutiny amid rising tensions between the u.s. and china. shares closed at end of earnings. capa is asking airlines to
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fares based on distance and is dividing travel into seven sections based on flying time. the most popular root between mumbai and new delhi will be priced between $45 and $140 estimation looks to get people flying again. limited domestic flights resume on monday even as most of india remains in lockdown. the government says pricing rules will last for two months. haidi: let's get you a quick check on how markets are trading at the moment. we are seeing kiwi stocks gaining .3%. this after two sessions of declines. we are seeing sydney futures higher by .2%. we had seen the aussie dollar touching a two month high. it has been helped by oil prices rallying this week, although we are seeing a little bit of
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pressure on wti at the moment. the aussie dollar is holding steady at that 65 cents to $.68. we head towards that boj emergency meeting. not much expected to change, but funding for struggling businesses will take center stage. kospi futures higher by .5% as well. we have seen a big winning streak for the kospi, which has gained ground for the past five sessions. the longest winning streak this year in fact. coming up on the next hour of "daybreak asia," more analysis as we count down to the mpc opening ceremony. u.s.-china business council president greg allen joins us from washington. claudia mo on beijing's move to impose new security woes on the city. the market opens in japan, korea, and australia, next. this is bloomberg. ♪ . ♪
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♪ >> welcome to daybreak asia. australia, japan, and south korea have just opened for trade. our top stories this hour. china reopens the most important political event of the year amid threats of tough codes on hong kong. we are live in beijing. alibaba reports later.
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expect online sales to be on the rise. the bank of japan holds an unscheduled talk as the coronavirus heaps extra pressure on the economy. help for small businesses topping the agenda. japan and south korea are coming online. the nikkei unchanged at the moment. it fell in the previous session. there's not much movement on the japanese yen either. dokets on hold given that we have the boj emergency meeting starting. there's not much expected out of this meeting. watch out for those yields. we have seen those super long bonds leading the advance among japanese bonds. now we will get more measures to stimulate and help out those smaller companies. demand forprompt jgb's as collateral from financial institutions. take a look at what the kospi is
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doing at the moment. this will be a six consecutive session of gains. we are talking about the longest winning streak this year at the highest level since march. the kospi has had a pretty incredible bond rally, more than 30% from march. we are seeing the korean won trading at that 1236 level. losing ground against the u.s. dollar at the moment. this coming after we saw exports plunging 20% in the first 20 days of this month. haidi: we are seeing some positive trading when it comes to the start of trading in sydney. the asx up by 0.1%. expecting gains across materials and energy. on oilhe positive story prices we have seen. darkening that outlook is australia's outlook of being cut
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on the impact of the coronavirus. on not just its economy but the chinese economy on which australia is so heavily reliant. taking a look at the aussie dollar. holding pretty steady. erasing earlier gains after this report came out, the cutting of the sovereign rating outlook to negative from stable. the aussie 10 year yield holding steady at this point. shery: investors watching very closely china's national people's congress. hour to layin an out the centerpiece of economic policy. agendae addition to the is already causing a backlash. national security law on hong kong. tom mackenzie is live for us in beijing. this already is stirring anger. tom: it is. what beijing says is that this is a very standard security law that would help safeguard the
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territorial integrity of china. they say other countries have similar laws. the way it has been received in hong kong and internationally speaks to the level of anger and concern about what this law could be used for. it would punish things like secession, and foreign interference. it could be used to interfere in hong kong's relatively free media and free speech. to reassure raising -- beijing's control over hong kong. that's a concern we heard from one opposition lawmaker in hong kong saying this would effectively be the end of hong kong and -- if this law goes into force. we are waiting for the details. it looks like this is an attempt by beijing to bypass the hong kong legislature and government to get this law enshrined on the books. how they do that in terms of the
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details, we are still waiting for. this is something the hong kong and failedhas tried to get written into law over number of years. they tried in 2003. that sparked protests. this could reignite protests in hong kong. there's the question of how the u.s. response as well. the u.s. signed into law the hong kong human rights bill towards the end of 2019. it would see them revise hong kong's trading status with the united states and its special status. tariffs could be reimposed on hong kong. reactiono see the u.s. in the street reaction in hong kong. this is seen as an aggressive move from beijing. we will get more details in the work report between 9:00 and 10:00 local time today. haidi: lawmakers in the u.s. have already responded.
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you have to u.s. senator is proposing a piece of legislation in response to this security mills -- bill measure. what are we hearing about how it would work? tom: that's right. saying that the u.s. would likely have to respond in some form. there is this bipartisan push to get a bill through that would put sanctions in place on any entity that was in forcing the security law and any banks that had dealings with that entity. senators saying about this is trying to preserve the economy of hong kong. it comes after efforts by congress in the u.s. to push back on china, whether on the issue of human rights or the potential delisting of chinese companies in the u.s.. there's also an attempt by lawmakers in america to allow u.s. citizens to sue the chinese
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government. we heard from the national people's congress officials saying that they would never accept demands for compensation or legal cases from u.s. citizens or anyone else internationally as a result of the coronavirus. mpc officials pushing back on that attempt. ,e heard from president trump raising the bar in terms of his criticism of beijing over the handling of the virus, saying there was a propaganda japan -- campaign against the europeans top.mericans, led from the shery: a big question right now about the mpc, whether or not we will see that gdp target this year. what are we expecting on that economic blueprint? reallye gdp target is the anchor for policymaking here
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in beijing. they may just drop it altogether. the economists who think you will still get a gdp target don't think it will any be -- be above 3%. the survey suggests china is looking at notching up growth at 1.8% for 2020. it is on course for his weakest growth annually for four decades. we are waiting to see if they have that target or if they drop it altogether. that will give us an indication as to the stimulus they have lined up to support the economy. the deficit target is something to watch. it was set at 3% in 2019. anything below 3.5% would be a disappointment to investors and markets. look out for anything on special sovereign bonds and local government bonds as well, whether they raise the quota on those bonds which are used to finance infrastructure spending. we heard from the pboc in the last few weeks suggesting they will step up their efforts for the economy.
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policy, we monetary will be listening out for it. jobs, jobs, jobs. that is crucial for social stability in china. economists see the jobs rate anywhere between 10-20% here in china. that's an urgent and pressing need for officials to address that. will they set themselves a job growth target as they did last year? another area to look for when the report comes out. tom mackenzie in beijing. continuing us -- to bring us the latest from the mpc. on the more analysis tensions in hong kong with u.s. china business council president greg allen and hong kong legislative council member claudia merritt will be along with us as well. let's get a check in terms of the first word headlines this hour. shery: japan's key inflation
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gauge turned negative last month for the first time in more than three years. fell 2/10 of 1% from a year earlier. the weakest reading since 2016. that's double what economists had been expecting. the boj holden and scheduled meeting on how to support business during the coronavirus pandemic. has seen japan's --st drop in operating since the bottom line has collapsed as japan things into a recession. it's one of the worst result in asia. the indian government says the r.b.i. will boost support for the nation's troubled shadow lenders. record repayments come due next month.
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it says the r.b.i. will put up to $4 billion into a stress asset fund to buy debt from shadow banks. they will be investment-grade securities that mature within three months. india's biggest storm has cut power to millions in the northeastern city of calcutta. it is weakening into a tropical depression. millions of people have been moved amid concern that coronavirus cases could surge in storm shelters. shery: coming up, vietnam says growth could slow to 5% this year as a virus hits its export dependent economy. our interview with the prime minister is ahead. plus, alibaba's fourth-quarter earnings are due later with analysts looking for signs of recovery from china's virus lockdown.
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this is bloomberg. ♪
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>> the chinese communist party is focused on getting its domestic house in order. >> looking from the outside. internally, gigi peng still has a print confidence in himself and the party to lead china through the time. >> growing signs of recognition that that aggressive diplomatic style is backfiring on china abroad. i think we might see a tactical retooling. attuned to much more international need will be important for china. >> what growth target will they come up with? that will tell you something about how much stimulus the government will have to pour into the economy. >> it will be a good time for the party to let go of the
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targets they have had in the past. there,some of our guests sharing their expectations for china's annual parliamentary meeting kicking off today. ♪ -- shery: let me get started with you on the growing u.s. china tensions that we are seeing. we are expecting this mpc to happen. , nationale the latest security laws on hong kong could
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be introduced. are your members worried about a potential escalation of tensions that could lead to washington withdrawing that special status for hong kong? membersnk all of our are worried about the overall timbre of the u.s. china relationship. hong kong certainly is an important part of that. we have not seen the specific legislation that the mpc will debate. yes, there is concern that there is slippage away from the one country, two systems. and that china is gradually encroaching on hong kong's traditional rights and freedoms. and that that might lead to a reevaluation of the relationship between the united states and hong kong in the future. not a wholesale change but perhaps a phased or partial
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change in the relationship between the u.s. and hong kong. shery: especially at a time where we continue to see rising bipartisan push back against beijing, we are now talking about the listing chinese companies. we had the senate overwhelmingly pass that. nancy pelosi today saying that they may consider it in the house. what happens to these companies that are doing business with china if we continue to see tensions escalate from all the different sides of washington? >> -- craig: there is a great deal of tension. topanies are not able operate as normal. i would agree that the senate having passed the bill, it is likely that the house will also. that will force chinese companies to have a degree of transparency that they have not heretofore had.
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or withdraw from the american markets. hey, american companies and european companies have to would here to bash adhere to chinese laws when in china. it is not reasonable -- unreasonable to ask that chinese adhere to american law if they want access to american financial markets. shery: exactly. businesses have really complained about their frustrations over the lack of a level playing field when it comes to beijing. if we were to see this, if it means short-term pain, is it worth paying for now? in the long-term, it could be more beneficial for all these businesses working with china. craig: well, i think it's not an either/or question. there has been a lot of incremental change in chinese
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economic management over the last 10 years or 20 years, from exchange rates to opening up the capital market. in china arenies larger and larger every year. the level playing field is something that we have not yet achieved. so we encourage the chinese government to at least meet their wto commitments to implement the phase one part of the u.s. china trade deal faithfully. the currentase account surplus that they have enjoyed for decades after decade. i think it is fair to ask the chinese to meet their obligations and other obligations to the whole community. word: we continue to hear
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about china stabilizing, reopening its economy. what are your members telling you about the ease of reopening inside china? craig: yeah. it does appear that a relatively robust reopening is happening, particularly at the industrial level. less so on the consumer level. that there's aar great deal of regional variation. certainly up in keeling, undergoing a secondary wave of infections. one -- as 100 million people may be under quarantine again. we are seeing variations between regions, between histories. the consumer, not really back in full force.
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there's a great deal of uncertainty for many companies. the global markets are very uncertain as well. external demand is way down. has an impact on the economy as well. shery: great to have you with us. mpc, we will be by these guests. take a look at what softbank is doing on the moment. we've heard from the company that it will be selling 240 million shares in their mobile to $2.9 billion. softbank corp. down 200 -- 2.5%. plenty more to come. this is bloomberg. ♪
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♪ the non-is expecting economic growth to slow despite successful moves to contain the coronavirus operate. the prime minister earlier told us that the global fallout when it comes to the pandemic has certainly affected vietnam's trade dependence economy. like other economies, the covid-19 pandemic has affected many facets of the economies of the world and also particularly vietnam. as vietnam is a deeply integrated economy, very integrated into the world economy, our imports and exports are two times higher than our total gdp. the disruption of supply chains caused by covid-19 affected vietnam considerably in spite of our success and containing
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covid-19. given these circumstances, it is not possible for us to ensure that gdp growth that we expected in the beginning of 2020 will be met. we have to adjust the projected gdp growth and certain macroeconomic indices as well as the gains of the national budget. therefore, we have set the gdp growth for 2020 to be 5% year on. i believe that this is the highest gdp growth expectation in asia at the moment. exports in the first four months groups and sit and our trade surplus reached nearly 3 billion u.s. dollars. the people's livelihood has been maintained in spite of the difficulties we have encountered with the coronavirus, regarding the export of rice, we are mixed
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-- expecting the highest. we should be the number one rice exporter in the world. in theto our success early containment of coronavirus, we have a lot of investors from many companies looking forward to soon going to our market of 100 million people. it's a very vibrant one. people and businesses are all looking forward and eager to resume business operations as normal. we have also provided support packages to people with difficulties that were impacted by coronavirus as well as businesses in terms of tax cuts. we have made steps to facilitate the growth of businesses. regarding our monetary policy, we reduced the interest rates and borrowing cost of loans to ease the burden on people on this -- and businesses. the most important goal that we have set is to maintain
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macroeconomic stability as well as keep inflation under control. this will help improve the life of people as well as business. we have put in place the necessary resources as well as policies to call for further investment from investors all over the world, including the united states and japan. we have been successful for many years in attracting fdi. now we shall put in place a -- even better conditions and more facilitating policies. we always believe that the success of the investor is the success of vietnam. that was the vietnamese prime minister. breaking news. we are hearing that china is admitting its 2020 gdp target, citing virus and global uncertainty. are we going to see a gdp target out of the national people's congress? according to a report from the
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mpc's, china has dropped that gdp coal. last year, it was between 6-6 .5%. more details on that breaking story, next. this is bloomberg. ♪
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shery: again on that breaking news china, the country is omitting its gdp target, citing virus and global uncertainties. this according to a report seen by bloomberg. this was the big question going into the national both congress. will we see a gdp target for 2020 given this huge coronavirus really collapsing or impacting the global economy? bloomberg seeing this report from the npc that they have actually omitted that 2020 gdp
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target, which last year was between 6% and 6.5 percent. the big question is what will happen to that target? could it be a qualitative target such as what we have seen in the 19th national congress of the communist party of china? a phrasinge, we saw called building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. haidi, finally, bloomberg has learned there will be no gdp target this year as many have the huge eventn of this coronavirus pandemic that has now topped 5 million cases across the world. that's right. what is interesting is we are expecting may be a compromise announcement, a combination of the 2020 and 2021 growth targets, which is what they did with the first few months of economic data. just to smooth out some of the volatility we are expecting to
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see when it comes to the collapse in growth consumption and economic activity resulting from the stricter lockdown we have seen in china, that they are just emerging out of. according to this report that has been cited by sources that bloomberg, they are in fact completely abandoning that 2020 target altogether. shery, keep in mind this is really something that a lot of analysts and economists have called for a for a long time now, that you have that kind of gdp target is a fairly arbitrary one given all of the other structural challenges the chinese economy has been contending with over the past years. time, we have these diplomatic issues as well. we have heard china is preparing to propose these national security laws on hong kong. this is a move that is likely to fuel further anger and criticism and reaction abroad as well. independence but pro-democracy lawmaker -- is joining us for her views.
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the question is whether china can do this, and i think the answer is that they can but it is clearly not going to be popular. is there a sense that this is beijing really losing its patience with hong kong's ability to get things under control? >> that is fairly clear by now. there is still a shocking trend. might beded this losing control under hong kong. they need to do something. that is what they are doing. y, can you hear me? haidi: i can hear you. getting a reaction as to what at this point can pro-democracy lawmakers and other lawmakers like yourself in hong kong actually do? there is a lot of people saying this is the final nail in the coffin in terms of any semblance
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or even any pretense that there is one country, two systems, because it is very quickly looking like one country, one system. claudia: that is exactly what is happening here. move --ssibly that this theythat this move -- could care less. there is complete jurisdiction over hong kong. they can do whatever they want to do. there is not much we can do. one country, two systems. and one country comes before to systems. never mind the two systems. they have made it clear. any legislature procedures here. they just do what they want. and they impose their decree on hong kong, putting hong kong
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people under the ruling system, collusion with foreign forces, etc. it is passive at the moment. i just cannot see how -- what we can do to fight back. shery: are you expecting at least more protests in hong kong? iaudia: that should be -- think beijing has been -- antipathy.g spread,e coronavirus the panic is over, all the protests might just come back in hong kong. hong kong will be considered, you know, a lost city.
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it is no longer safe, and it is all being controlled, and whatever is going to happen to our supposing tack of an international financial hub, this marks the end of hong kong. seen local media talk about this new measure potentially being compatible with hong kong law at the end of the day. the law would only affect a small number of people. what are your thoughts? claudia: they only need to crack down on a small number of people . they are conducting the revolution here. there is no such thing. they knew it. controls, andcal the chilling effect throughout the city.
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politically correct although the extremely heavy political prices they pay. haidi: we have seen that the reaction from the u.s. overnight with two senators -- claudia: yeah. so we have seen the reaction overnight with the two u.s. senators who are pushing for this punitive bill to punish beijing if the security law is passed. are you hoping some pressure from the international community might help or do you see this as a xi jinping kind of pretty desperate to consolidate his power, and part of that is really pushing forward with the hong kong agenda? claudia: i think the beijing
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assumedration has either the international committee, the united states in particular, should be dealing with its own problems arising from this virus attack globally. therere not -- they knew will be loads of verbal attacks but nothing concrete has come out of it. they have also made it clear the inclusion of terrorism security lawal that is going to be slapped on hong kong -- what terrorism? there is no such thing as terrorism here. it is obviously targeted at all the antigovernment protests which has been almost a year now. would findted states
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it very difficult to stand by idly. after that, we-- do not know. but i am not particularly hopeful of any international kind of help that would buffer the situation here because china seems all very determined at the moment. we still would need at least some moral support. great claudia mo, always having you with us. thank you so much for your views, hong kong legislative council member. we continue to reach out to voices on all sides of the debate over hong kong's future as the npc continues. we will be speaking with the hong kong legislative council and executive council member. this is bloomberg. ♪
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shery: recapping the breaking news we had moments ago, china will not set a numerical target for gdp growth this year, according to the texas of li textng's annual policy -- of li keqiang's annual policy address. tom mackenzie for us from beijing. tons of questions about how china will guide economic growth this year.
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this is obviously significant. they have been setting themselves growth targets for years, for decades, for the first time in a long time that china will not be setting itself an annual growth target, citing the impact of the virus. according to the work report that has been seen by bloomberg news. what it means in terms of router targets for china's policymakers is that it seems very unlikely that they will be able to reach the goal that xi jinping set himself of doubling china's gdp 201010 levels -- from levels to 2020. of course, retracted or contracted 6.8% in the first quarter this year. most economists think you will get growth at may be 1.8% for the full year of 2020 so the focus now will shift to what in its work report is said about
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efforts to stimulate the economy and questions about jobs. when you have official unemployment rate at 6%, most economists think it is somewhere between 10% and 20%. you are looking as well for the deficit target. giving themselves more room to stimulate the economy. in terms of infrastructure spending, we will be looking at any lines on local government bond issuance,giving themselvesl raise the quota there, and sovereign bonds as well. and then there is a monetary policy side, the pboc said it can provide more support. there is an indication of how much fire power they will turn to the economy now. expecting premier li keqiang to say that by abandoning this growth target which a lot of economists have said is arbitrary, it allows the country to focus on things like unemployment on financial risks
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and poverty elimination. shere are a lot of bowl they have to juggle to get the stability they are yearning for. tom: absolutely. it is something to talk about the balancing act between financial risks and stimulating the economy. is a gross actat that policymakers have had to follow for a number of years. extreme.t much more one clear win for policymakers, it is the efforts to clamp down on shadow banking. we see that as a real game and they want to hold onto that and hold onto the efforts they made in curtailing some of the financial risks even as you get 300%,o gdp closing at something like that. you are talking about the matters that have been made. don't want to lose that. in terms of measures we are expecting on the jobs front,
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premier li keqiang has talked about focusing more on unemployment and less on the growth story and they have for a long time. officials talked about sustainability of growth and having a more sustainable growth picture. the other info president xi jinping is eliminating poverty, absolute poverty. tot is going to be difficult achieve this year given the rates of growth. shery: how much are we going to hear about geopolitics, whether it is on hong kong where the recent attacks but president trump on china? horse is nowg the front and center after we heard some officials look to secure these votes here at the national people's congress to write into hong kong's law this national security law. of course, they are likely to be able to do that by the end of the one we process so bypassing that, it seems to be an effort and it seems to be a law that would clampdown and give officials the power to clampdown
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. and foreign interference. implicationsroad for freedom of press, freedom of speech, ngo's. that is why there's been concerns in the pro-democracy camps in hong kong and we heard from some lawmakers there in terms of opposition lawmakers saying this could be the end of hong kong at the international city. you are looking at the u.s. response. they could paint measures further than trump. as already said, he may react to this if this is enshrined in law and you have it passed by the congress and signed by president trump, the hong kong human rights bill, that does give the u.s. government the ability to resume hong kong's status and remove some of the favorable trading status hong kong has. and then anything they say about trade with the u.s., they remain vocally committed to this phase i trade deal.
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almost anything on that. will they say anything about the international pressure from the likes of the australians and the euro ends when it comes to the virus as well? mackenzie at the forbidden city in beijing. we will get more from tom, of course, as we get the opening sessions of the mpc and we will be joined by eurasia group's speakers from peking university throughout the course of the day as well. [no audio] let's get you the first word headlines now. karina mitchell is in new york with the headlines. karina: thank you so much. we will stay on china and this first story that comes out of the u.s. nancy pelosi says they will review with the senate bill that will impose restrictions on chinese companies listing in new york although she stopped short of promising a vote. he said the legislation had
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brought to party support in the senate but said the house would give it consideration. the bill put further pressure on u.s.-china ties amid the tech restrictions on huawei. meanwhile, japan may lift the state of emergency in tokyo as soon as monday. the downward trend in coronavirus infections continues. restrictions have been used in osaka and surrounding regions, but the capital and nearby areas and hokkaido must wait a little bit longer. shinzo abe says the government will always put people's safety first amid fears of a second wave of infections. brazil has reported a daily record of 1180 eight deaths from the virus, confirming again it is the world's latest pandemic hotspot. the country of 210 million people reported 18.5 thousand new cases, slightly down on two days of record infection levels. almost two thirds of all brazilian cities have now been hit by the virus and 70% of the victims were over 60 years old. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than
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2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am karina mitchell. this is bloomberg. shery. shery: coming up next, alibaba's latest results could see a boost from china's increasing embrace of online shopping during the virus pandemic. we ask what to expect with our guests. this is bloomberg. ♪
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>> investors were overly cautious in february, but i
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think we are asking a lot of resumption of growth. we are seeing healthy signs of recovery. consumers are coming back in. march quarter results, i am looking for a slight beat in terms of the revenue. i am looking at revenue of 108 billion or 60% up year on year. mainly due to less of a decline with their core business. shery: what about the fact that they had to give out subsidies for users and merchants? will that add to costs? billy: exactly. that is a good point. i am looking for a topline but in terms of the ebitda and in terms of the underlined levels, i am looking in line with the consensus estimates. there is going to be a pressure on tech growth. this is two things. first of all, there's a lot of relief measures that's been provided and i think that is going to be an ongoing process, which you can see during the june quarter as well. but on top of this, we are seeing a lot of competition in
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china as well. as we know, a heavy competitor of china's new commerce marketplace, i do expect that in terms of commission rates and tech rates, this is going to be on -- at least a major pressure on probability throughout the year. news: we have had breaking of course. bloomberg seeing a copy of the mpc report which says china will be abandoning the 2020 growth target and we also understand they will be setting an employment target -- unemployment target that is markedly less optimistic compared to the year before. how does that potentially play into these consumer facing, you know, consumer barometer names like alibaba? billy: exactly. that, there's already concerns of the consumption power and the ongoing retail power. if we look at the numbers right now, even amid the last four
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months, we thought generally, online retail sales was actually down. during march, it was flat. we saw online retail sales growing 5.8% so there is a recovery amidst all the outbreak. in the near term, the numbers we are seeing are quite healthy, quite promising. obviously, you know, in terms of going outward, whether unemployment will take a further told, bear in mind that in terms of online e-commerce, there is an element where if there is an impact on income, people might want to look for savings paid alibaba is a good platform in terms of finding savings and cheap goods as well. shery: thank you very much. haidi: -- equity research there. shery: we have more breaking news out of china. china aiming to add over 9 million urban jobs in 2020. china setting 2020 cpi growth
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target at about 3.5 percent. also, they are targeting the jobless rates of about 6%. of course, we do know that they have just dropped the gdp growth target. last year was set between 6% and 6.5%. they are giving that up this year but they are targeting other measures of economic growth in china, including the jobless rate of about 6% targeting to add over 9 million urban jobs. also planning a 2020 budget gdp.it of over 3.6% of this is against a 2.8% of gdp a year ago. we know that there would be a lot of fiscal stimulus coming out of china. that was the expectation, so we are seeing the budget deficit also rise. haidi: that is right. completely expected. sharing, this question mark over the unemployment, we have heard
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reports of 10% to 20% being the true rate of unemployment in china when you take into account the numbers of migrant workers that have been impacted. now, we are seeing this kind of less positive set of goals over in job creation. over 9 million versus 11 million , a target for unemployment rate in urban areas of 6%. again, higher than the 2019 goal. that coupled with the fact that they have abandoned that 2020 gdp measure really kind of gives a view as to what the policy priorities are expected to be when we hear from premier li keqiang when he delivers that government report later on today. for more on the nbc, we will be joined -- npc, we will be joined by the analyst over the next hour or so, plus we will be hearing from peking university as well as another university. "daybreak asia." we look ahead to the start of trade in hong kong, shanghai, and shenzhen, and of course, the
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opening of the national people's congress a ceremony at the top of the hour in beijing. stay with us. bloomberg markets the china open is next. this is bloomberg. ♪ rg. ♪
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♪ >> this is "bloomberg markets: china open." i'm tom mackenzie in beijing. china abandons its 2020 gdp growth target, citing the coronavirus and global uncertainty. a plan to impose a security law on hong kong is also on the agenda.

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