move. alibaba reports later with investors keen to see how business has been holding up amid covid-19. analysts expect sales to show a strong increase. rishaad: let's have a look at these markets. taking a look at hong kong as it leads the region. some big losses. the new security law. saying china will improve hong kong's security laws. perfect them, his verbiage. let's take a look at what is the market in shanghai and shenzhen. 1.3% down. china is 2% lower. seeing very little movement for the currency. it is a tad weaker on the offshore. 7.13, the handle. with halfe position an hour of trading left on the mainland.

hong kong. , 3.6% down. h-shares. -- eight shares. indeed, the volatility. 31% spike to the upside. earlier, the hong kong dollar -- weakening. it has been right up against the strongest part of that. it went down to the lowest in six weeks. we have come off of that for the time being. seven hong kong dollars. 75 hong kong cents. now looking is pretty for the rest of the region as well. it is putting much red across the board. tie one below its 10 day moving average. currently down about 2%. the taiwan index is down about one and a half. losses for the sti. down about 1.9%. singapore grappling with the virus even though there are

signs of stability. the city running out of time to hold an election. the benchmark down a tense of 1%. -- down 8/10 of 1%. march numbers drink to the lowest -- mark numbers shrank to the lowest in 10 months. crude down 2%. 3305. crude at such levels could raise the possibility that shale producers slowly turn on the taps again. gold futures getting some upside. 17, 26. gold has been up for most of the past weekend. the aussie dollar slightly weaker. -- three tens of 1%. rishaad: we're going to get straight over to beijing and join tom mackenzie who is on location. in --g vacant is china how significant is china in dropping the numerical gdp target?

tom: of course, overshadowing the national people's congress has been the impact of the coronavirus on china's economy. a more toxic relationship between beijing and washington. the economic impact front and center. we saw first quarter gdp contract 6.8%. most economists think you are not going to get above 2% growth for 2020. no big surprise china dropped its gdp target. it is the first time they have done this since 1994. they have not wanted to straitjacket themselves into setting themselves in artificially high target. there is a question as to what extent policymakers will read into this. it has been that gdp target in the years previously, something of an anchor for china's policymaking. it ties into how much fiscal and monetary support we will see from china. we got some lines on that from the premier. you're looking at sovereign bonds issuance of about a

trillion yuan. that is about 140 trillion u.s. dollars. that will finance some of the spending to support the economy and businesses hit by the coronavirus. the local government level, you have seen the quota for special insurance bond -- special issue and bonds. you're talking about infrastructure spending as well. we are hearing about more relief. the premier says small and medium-sized enterprises make up about 65% of employment in china. central to the report. the premier saying there is going to be less on growth. more on securing quality jobs for the workforce. they set themselves a target of 9 million additional urban jobs by the end of 2020. that is below 2019's target. the official and plummet rate is 6%. most economists think it is somewhere between 10 and 20%.

the jobless rate is key for chinese policymakers. they are concerned about social stability and the legitimacy of the communist party. no surprise they are putting an emphasis on jobs. the deficit target was increased to 3.6% from 2.8%. they are widening the deficit to be able to fund some of the stimulus to support the economy, which remained under significant pressure. from the perspective internationally, the biggest story has to be the perfection of hong kong's security law. this is something sending equity markets in a tailspin in hong kong. 3% plus of a decline. we have at the moment a devil in the detail being revealed. seems that is right that the national people's congress will vote on a motion to compel the hong kong legislature to

enshrine a security low into hong kong law, into the basic law. this is something the hong kong legislature, the government has been trying to get on the books for years. you will remember of course in 2003 when they tried this, it's part street protests. -- it sparked street protests. beijing says it is needed to help police combat what they describe as terrorism and to ensure china's territorial integrity. beijing says the security law is very normal. of course, opponents in hong kong and pro-democracy activists are deeply concerned about the implications of a low that would allow officials to crackdown on sedition, secession and foreign interference in hong kong. that is a concern for the freedom of press and ngos. you have had the likes of and opposition lawmakers saying this

could spell the end of hong kong as we know it as an international city. how does the u.s. respond? of course, trump is likely to come under pressure from democrats and republicans to respond. ee said he may tak steps. there was a bill passed that gives president trump and the administration the powers to oversee the u.s. relationship with hong kong if they see it is being undermined in terms of its autonomy. they can take action to remove some of the special trading status hong kong currently enjoys. . major implications for hong kong on economic front. . also maybe political unrest as well. protests potentially in the pipeline. it seems beijing is trying to bypass the hong kong legislature with the security law. relationsu.s. china may be worsening, yet beijing reiterated it will stay committed to the trade deal.

this seems to be one hinge that is keeping this relationship from completely falling apart. it is this phase one deal. both sides have reiterated they remained determined to implement the phase one deal. we got it publicly as you could get it in terms of read rating the stance. at the national people's congress saying that china would work with the u.s. to implement the phase one deal. the practicalities are a key question because china has committed to buying $200 billion of u.s. goods on top of 2017 levels. how they do it as the economy remains in a very weak place men's the question and in what time of timeframe as well. they are going to try to stick with the phase one deal. haslinda: great stuff. tom mackenzie in beijing.

now for some first word headlines. nancy pelosi says the house will raise view -- will review the senate bill that will impose restrictions on chinese companies listing in new york. she admitted the legislation had brought two party support in the senate but said the house would give it consideration. the bill put further pressure on u.s.-china ties. gauges key inflation stands negative for the first time in more than three years. consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 2/10 of 1% from a year earlier. the weakest reading since 2016. that is double what economist had been expecting. the data comes as the doj held an unscheduled eating offering lending support for small business but no stimulus. japan may lift the state of emergency in tokyo as soon as monday. if the downward trend in coronavirus infections

continues. restrictions have been eased in osaka and surrounding reasons -- stranding regions. governmentsays the will always put people safety first. brazil has reported a daily record of 1188 deaths from the coronavirus, confirming again it is the latest pandemic hotspot. the country of 210 million people reported 18 and a half thousand new cases, slightly down on two days of infection levels. victims were older 50 years old. ahead, special advice to the china state council joining us on the program to discuss some of the key issues facing beijing. going to be discussing economic

policy, relations with the united states and hong kong. officialslso, the weeding singapore's fight against the coronavirus. that as the city looks to reopen its economy. that is all on the way. this is bloomberg. ♪

haslinda: a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. targeting luckin coffee billionaire chairman as they try to recoup losses of more than $500 million. the singapore branch is taking a court order to appoint liquidators, which is controlled by a family trust. loan fromed on a

luckin shares last month. baidu considering delisting. discussions are said to be at an early stage. coming after the senate passed a bill for companies that may be under the control of foreign governments. bloomberg itn told is just rumor and declined to comment further. alibaba reports fourth quarter earnings later with investors looking for signs of an economic recovery may china as it emerges from the coronavirus. analysts expect a rise in online sales showing an improvement and a national retail trends. the results, as alibaba is facing increased scrutiny amid rising tensions between the u.s. and china. shares closed lower ahead of earnings. earnings season has seen japan drop sincehe worst

the financial crisis. 26% in the first quarter compared with a year ago. phased in results -- as bottom line has clapped depend seeks -- as japan sinks into recession. one of the worst results in asia. morgan stanley says it does not expect to return to normal office-based work this year. the ceo. . -- the ceo told the shareholder meeting bank is working on a post virus environment and will not for staff to return to the office anytime soon. he expects about half to be back this year. facebook aims to hire more remote workers any areas where does not have a physical office presence.

mark zuckerberg says the plan will start immediately, particularly in engineering. he says remote working could make up as much as 50% of facebook's workforce in the next decade as staff become more productive. rishaad: china is going to be moving to pass a hugely controversial national security law for hong kong. the primary speaking at the national people's congress. the move has sparked widespread anger and criticism. with aiscuss more professor of international relations and an advisor to china's state council. professor, why are they doing it now? >> [indiscernible] rishaad: correct.

has sovereignty since 1997. which the chinese central government has respected. enacted to profit any action from hong kong -- [indiscernible] nearly two site -- nearly two decades since hong kong itself is unable to enact regulations. six months of violent actions by hong kong radicals. before the break of covid-19 pandemic. greatly urged the program. the chinese government determines to do it through a national congress according to the -- [indiscernible] professor, -- rishaad:

professor, i just want to get your view here. of thee imposition national security wells in fact -- security laws in fact go around the legislative council's 23,ility to pass article represent a violation of the whole principal of one country, two systems? >> i do not think so. implementation of one country, two cities. [indiscernible] on i think -- if we rely

hong kong -- [indiscernible] especially before the outbreak of the pandemic in hong kong. six points of isla actions by radicals -- of violent actions by radicals. determined to make a fixation of regulations. shoulda: professor, taiwan be concerned about the security law in hong kong? after all, china has been trying a onee taiwan with country, two system policy. that --nk

[indiscernible] in order to delay investment -- an action for hong kong. [indiscernible] haslinda: the concern has been project superiority including in areas such as health care. i am wondering if the pandemic has somehow dented china's strategic positioning as a global power. >> it is a whole system,

the wuhan lockdown. [indiscernible] so now, china controls the epidemic. at the same time to recover the economy. [indiscernible] a huge challenge. difficulties for the chinese government, especially in consideration of the economy situation. professor, does this

move -- going back to the security law again. does this jeopardize the favorable special trading status washington does extend to hong kong, and if that was removed, they could hurt china in some not by indeed, ultimately being able to benefit from having a separate legal system, a separate currency as well for hong kong. does it worry you? think the chinese central government is taking into consideration all of the -- [indiscernible]

therefore, it would impact on china's whole economic recovery. now, central government make a decision. regulation is important. maybe consider that they should do it. [indiscernible] rishaad: thank you very much. coming up, having a look at the market action.

rishaad: a check on asian equity markets. story. a down arrow just looking at what is going on with the chinese indices as we head toward lunch break. asian stocks are down. the bulk of the losses after china announced its plan to impose a national security law on the city. we do have tensions between washington, d.c. and beijing being ramped up as well. that is adding further downward pressure for equity investors who remain fairly pessimistic in the session. this last trading day of the week. markets: we had the disappointing with the meeting. pick off the much anticipated meeting. -- kicked off the much anticipated meeting. not wanting to give a growth target for the year, citing the

virus and global uncertainties. he is looking to control financial risk. a lot of jobs. across the much red board. more to come. this is bloomberg. > ♪

haslinda: live pictures of the lion city this friday. almost 11:30 a.m.. singapore is down along with the rest of the region. the sti down more than 2%. we have company developers among the biggest today. singapore grappling with the virus even though there are signs of stability. has the highest infection rate in asia. that is impacting plans to hold an election with the government having to be dissolved in january. quite a bit of a headache for the government right now. the sti down about 2%.

let's get a look at first word headlines in new york. >> china has opened its premier political event of the year, abandoning a numerical gdp growth target amid the fallout from the coronavirus and the wider global uncertainty. delegates were where masks and observe social distancing as the common's gathers in beijing. the national people's congress was delayed for two months.

decades has cut powers to millions. this likely is weakening to a

tropical depression as it moves into anger --. millions of people have been moved amid concern -- india has already faced its full-year contraction for four decades. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm corrina metal. -- i'm karina mitchell. this is bloomberg. rishaad: let's get to the market action. just getting japan back into the frame. asian stocks going one direction only. that is south. hang seng extending losses to 4%. the bulk of the losses coming in this territory. that after the national people's conference did announced plans to impose a national security low in the city. it is planning to further escalate the tensions between united states and china. fed losses are also for the

nikkei 225. 7/10 of 1%. equity futures in the u.s. and europe on the way down. accusations from donald trump. that came in the form that it will safeguard sovereign interest and threaten countermeasures. the security measure could be one of those countermeasures. planning toeijing sell bonds. targetcover amid the gdp amid the uncertainties from what is happening with the global pandemic. that is the position equities are in at the moment as the hang seng goes to lunch in under half an hour. it is a down arrow story. hong kong leading the lurch lower. the u.s. futures pointing to a lower open. economic recovery

from covid-19 would depend on availability of affordable rapid test kits and the rollout of a vaccine. thecity intends to ramp up number of tests carried out each day. lee. bring in vernon thank you so much for joining us. singapore is spending one of his longer period of restrictions. overlyapore being cautious or is the situation in singapore much worse than everywhere else? yes, so to answer that question, i think every country's strategy is different. we are essentially reacting and responding to the situation as we see in singapore. there trying to control spread of disease through a containment strategy. cases tohrough testing

detect them, contact tracing and conducting surveillance as much as possible. in addition to that, we are -- or we have ruled out many community-based measures to reduce the spread of disease. that has been effective in bringing the community transmission rate down substantially. singapore is waiting for a chief -- for cheap and fast test kits. how far away are we from that? vernon: there are many test kits on the market at the moment. do arets we primarily still the pcr-based laboratory of tests. we are including serological tests in our testing portfolio as well. always looking for

better, more effective and more efficient testing methodology. theave to look at what are research being done on the horizon and to validate the test kits and see if they are able to be incorporated into our strategy. hopenda: what is the best for these test kits? where will they come from? think there are a lot of presets going on internationally. it is difficult to determine exactly where the next advancement or development might come from. we are not looking at only one setting to identify new technology. we're looking across the world to see what is the latest technology. where these technologies can be produced and scaled to meet our requirements and also in a way to hedge against various risk in

terms of supply and also in terms of effectiveness of these test kits. right now, we are continually ramping up our testing capacity in singapore. we are conducting more tests every day. aspectting is only one of the fight against coronavirus. testing only enables us to identify cases. there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of investigating these cases, performing contact tracing and other public health measures such as encouraging the public space management measures, save distancing, pricing good hygiene and also to report any respiratory illness to doctors as soon as possible so they can be treated and

managed. toting also allows us identify cases so that we can manage them clinically and rates ory complication even mortality. that is what we have been doing in singapore. identify as many cases as possible. we manage to have the latest in our ability to deliver health care to these individuals to lower complication rates. what steps -- what measurable goals do you have to reduce the circuit breaker and the lockdown? it is a gradual process, but what milestones do you have to pass through? there are many indicators we have looked at technical, are

epidemiological indicators such as the number of cases. many cases we are able to link. and also, through our surveillance and modeling of the reproduction numbers and so on, how these point towards decreasing number of cases in the community. the other indicators we have looked at are things like, whether we have brought out efficient testing to the public. how the public is adhering to the space management measures. business is able to cope with reopening any this environment. things like whether the health care capacity is able to deal with any coronavirus cases that might occur. as you can see, we have progressing will be

with the opening of the economy after the circuit breaker. rishaad: what have you learned about this disease in studying patients? we know that in northeast china, the whole virus has mutated. are you seeing any evidence of that? what have you learned in terms of people who have had it? are they able to get it? is it communicable even if they have recovered? vernon: we are constantly learning more about this disease. it is a very new disease compared to many other diseases we are familiar with. the amount of research going into it, we will always discover interesting rare phenomenon. is whatut this disease underpins the overall response strategy, which is that it is

mostly spread by droplets and through contact of contaminated surfaces. the disease tends to be very dear lynn or transmissible earlier -- very vera lent or transmissible early on. that is why rapid identification of cases through testing is extremely important. underpins our overall strategy. newre always monitoring for information to validate and incorporate into our strategy. we are watching this phase very closely. quickly, whatjust are you doing to improve the lives of these migrant workers, which gave the second wave test singapore ultimately? what are you doing about people who had been forgotten? vernon: i think there is a whole

stream of work that i think various agencies and various people in singapore are looking at. i am not in a position to comment because it is not really my area of work. but yes, there are many people looking at this issue and addressing. in terms of the medical care we are providing them, we are providing the best medical care available to deal with the coronavirus situation. testing,f that, the identifying cases, providing the best medical care to lower the complication rates to as low as possible and as evident, the convocation rates and mortality rates in singapore are low. them to workreturn as part of the opening of the

economy. dr. lee, the virus seems to have mutated in northern china and slowed the recovery. does this change singapore's strategy? vernon: there are a lot of reports across the world. we have not seen any specific mutations as of yet that changes our analysis of the way we handle this virus. virusesnow, many including this coronavirus does mutate. we are watching this closely to see if any of the mutations have sniffing impacts to the way we deal with coronavirus and a general. so far, we have not find any that would change our strategy. rishaad: thank you very much indeed. let's get into some breaking news from thailand.

a huge surprise in this data. what we have at the moment is a trade surplus coming in. 2.4 6 billion. we were looking for a small deficit. we were looking for 318 million dollars is the deficit in thailand. seeing -- have a look at that a second. a slight movement to the weak side. ever so slightly. looking at the sct, that is on the way down, 1.3%. down as you can tell that some 17 and a half percent from the start of the year. let's go through these numbers. imports fell by 17% year on year. the estimate was 46 and i have percent fall. that was much worse than anticipated. on the export side of things, the expert -- the estimate was for a 3% contraction. we got a rise of 2.1%. that gives you the reason why

the country saw a trade surplus of $2.4 billion as opposed to the estimate of threaded 18 million. there we go -- of 318 million. there we go. economy surprising on exports and imports. coming up, with hong kong's autonomy thrown into question, we look at possible scenarios that have raised questions about its future as a finance hub. this is bloomberg. ♪

rishaad: you are back with bloomberg markets. the chinese premier opening the annual nationals people's conference with a pledge to strengthen security laws in hong kong. protests against beijing have been raging for nearly a year. tumbling.hong kong in stephen engle. ---democracy out for cats pro-democracy advocates are outraged. making some comments as well. about the reaction. >> there are two to every story, obviously. i do not mean to diminish what the pro-democracy advocates are saying because this is a significant step in hong kong's

turbulent marriage since 1997 with the mainland. article 23, the anti-subversion bill you are talking about that perhaps china is going to go on a workaround to pass, has been very controversial. half a million people took to the streets in 2003 when the security secretary and the chief executive tried to push through the legislation. they failed. both of the individuals resigned their posts. it is a much different situation now. it is a much more emboldened mainland china under xi jinping. 18 ofng possibly article the basic law, which would allow mainland law to be invoked in hong kong if the local authorities are under turmoil and cannot pass it. it is a prime art -- a priority. article 23 is a party of beijing. you talked about the opposition.

a lawmakers saying this is. the end of hong kong. . i foresee the status of hong kong as an international city will be gone very soon. others on social media saying it is a battle of life and death. my wife mentioned she was on some of the chat groups in hong kong. there are number of people saying this is welcome because we cannot have any more protests, which have decimated the hong kong economy and the fabric of society. also, the white house has been making comments. donald trump says they are monitoring it and they will address the issue very strongly if this bill is passed by the national people's congress in beijing. one thing the u.s. has threatened, and that is basically taking away the special trading privileges the unit states offers hong kong. early this morning, we talked to the georgetown asian studies professor at advisor to president obama.

he says withdrawing that status by the u.s. could be counterproductive. let's hear from him. >> the tools to punish beijing are very limited. my concern is by withdrawing the special statuses, you punish hong kong and you drive the hong kong economy more into the hands of the mainland and accelerate beijing's existing strategy to absorb hong kong and make it another city in china. >> china daily out with a statement or a commentary saying it is absolutely necessary the country's top legislative body fulfill its obligation. the rubberstamp legislature and the other steps that are needed to invoke those are moving ahead -- invoking this are moving ahead. haslinda: we have live pictures from the hong kong pro-democracy legislators holding a news conference. does it seem like beijing has lost patience with the unrest in

hong kong? >> it does look that way because along with this movement and the appointment of harder lined beijing officials at the hong kong and macau affairs office indicates beijing is perhaps frustrated with hong kong's inability to pass the law. article 23 has been stalled since 2003. they simply want this past. patients perhaps is running thin after 11 months now of unrest. some of it violent. it looks as though beijing will take things into their hands and invoke article 18, which would mainlandosing national law, at least on the security front to hong kong. her north asia correspondent cut -- our north

asia correspondent, stephen engle in hong kong. coming up, a look at the challenges facing china as the national people's congress continues in beijing. this is bloomberg. ♪

rishaad: a look at the latest business flash headlines. reliance industry saying kkr

will invest $1.5 billion in date judo division. it comes days after facebook kkrht into the deal giving 2.8% of its platforms. geo planning to use its subscribers as an e-commerce base shaking up india's payment market. onlines to cap affairs based distance and dividing travel into seven sections based on flowing times. . the most popular route between mumbai and delhi -- as the nation looks set to fly again. limited domestic flights resume monday as most of india remains in lockdown. pricing rules will last two months. softbank on the way out. there is news at will sell 5% of its wireless unit for $3 billion. it will offer 200 40 million

shares of softbank court -- offer $240 million -- 20 40 million shares of some bank. by banks and pay down debt. that includes part of softbank's holdings in alibaba. ibm cutting an unspecified number of jobs. employees have been laid off in north carolina, pennsylvania, california, missouri and new york where the company is based. the layoffs could be in the thousands after years of falling revenues and the coronavirus. ibm employee more than three enter 50,000 people in it -- more than three to 50,000 people. notinda: let's say it is looking pretty in the markets. in agentonly one calle -- one color and asian markets. that is read. that is taking cue from the tensions between the u.s. and china.

china tightening its grip on hong kong. the nikkei 225 done a tens of 1%. we have the hang seng while surging or rather deepening its losses for the day. almost 5%. 15 members on the index trading lower, impacting the hong kong dollar as where -- as well. china admitting it's 2020 growth target. we heard from guests sending a down picture of the npc not boding well for the rest of the region. we did have thailand earlier coming in with better-than-expected export numbers. that could provide some relief going forward. rishaad: let's have a look at india's trading session. 11 minutes ago. -- [indiscernible]

75 rupees. very little change. this is bloomberg. ♪ staying connected your way is easier than ever.

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