talkd premier li keqiang about the economy at the beginning of the year. it's get to sydney and get the first word news with paul allen. chinaearly indicators in show their economy is exhibiting signs of recovery, although pressures remain. equities and small businesses are leading the improvement. trade gauge and a survey of sales manager signal a broad pickup. optimism of a trade deal helps. copper prices still have a weakness. a second trial of roundup causing cancer. they have to settle billions of dollars worth of lawsuits. they have awarded damages of more than $80 million to a 70-year-old man who became ill who sprayed this on his yard for over a decade. scientists say it is safe and they plan to appeal. boeing has increased the software shift -- fix saying it was close to an upgrade before the airlines crash any feel be a. the plane maker has been refining the software since the lion air disaster. the sensor forces the plane into a dive. boeing said the upgrade proved more complicated than originally thought. >> faa must take steps to reduce hazard

li keqiang said the chinese economy faced a crucial year, as he addressed the opening of china's annual sessions. it's the country's biggest political meeting of the year. our china correspondent john sudworth reports from beijing. under a cloud of pollution they streamed in to take their places in a largely ceremonial parliament devoid of dissent. many too guarded even to acknowledge the biggest issue of the day. are you worried about the economy, i ask. of course i'm not worried, she says. our country is strong. the economy is getting better and better, this man says. inside though, the message from china's leaders was much more candid. with a list of the serious mounting economic risks. translation: downward pressure on the economy is increasing, growth in consumption is slowing. the difficulty private firms face in getting financing has not been resolved. and the financial sector contains many risks and hidden dangers. so, to shore up growth, he promised tax cuts, more bank lending, and, in a clear nod to washington, fairer access for foreign companies. premier li keqiang mentioned

reiterating from premier li keqiang supporting the multilateral trading system. to what extent does the slowing down of customs and canadian canola coming into china, undermine coal, china's leaders? john: i do not think they have any intention whatsoever of of tools tokind punish countries that crossed them. i think this kind of thing will continue. it does undermine it to a certain extent. i would agree with you that we this kind of paradoxical situation going on at the same time. the reality on the ground is that china does use these kinds of economic levers with foreign countries. david: china opens up at its own pace. they are announcing these things now because the economy has gone tothis point -- has gotten this point where it local companies have run its course. is there anything from the npc china mighthat said be overextended. it could be giving something more that me hurt a little bit. john: i do not see that. i think that the kinds of policies and the levers, and mechanisms that china is talking about are all within the ability of the government to de

china's premier li keqiang has warned that the country faces "a tough struggle" as he laid out plans second—largest economy. at the opening of china's annual meeting of parliament, mr li said the government has set its economic growth target for the year at 6 to 6.5%. that's lower than last year's goal of around 6.5%. beijing has also set its inflation target at around 3%, and its budget deficit goal at 2.8% of gross domestic product. 0ur correspondent robin brant is in beijing. the beginning of many days where the chinese government sets out their agenda and targets, tell us what it tells us where china is headed in growth? it tells us what we already knew and what is a clear picture. if you look back to gdp figures last year, this economy, the second largest in the world, continues to grow at an enviable pace. the rate is definitely slowing. the target for next year, in the past, they would choose something specific, but now we have a target between six and 6.5%. in 2018, it was around 6.5%. in terms of chinese growth, we have a trend of continued slowing down. that means according

during the opening session, premier li keqiang cut the economic growth forecast to its lower in nearlyhree decades. we'll take a look at what this means for the world's second-largest economy in just a moment. first, this report. reporter: beijing's new airport. it is set to be the largest in the world when it opens later this year. chinina's leadership oftenen uss polititical events as an occasin to flaunt its successes to the media. and it is a welcome distraction. china's economy is burdened with the consequences of its trade dispute the u.s. municipalities and state-run companies are struggling under high levels of debt. addressing china's national people's congress, premier li keqiang issued a warning. >> we face a complex and serious situation as well as challenges, foreseeable and otherwise, that are greater in number and in size. reporter: li also announced market reforms aimed at leveling the playing field for chinese and foreign companies. this bid to diffuse u.s. complaints has made delegates more optimistic that the trade dispute with the u.s. could soon be resolved. >> chi

let's bring you some live pictures now from beijing, where chinese premier li keqiang has been speakingbiggest chinese political event of the year and the chinese government has just addicted to gdp for the following year, 6.6%. it is fairto to gdp for the following year, 6.6%. it is fair to say that many experts do not trust the veracity of these figures. our correspondent stephen mcdonell is in tiananmen square. this occasion, will report on it every year. this occasion, will report on it every yea r. we this occasion, will report on it every year. we do have to be careful about the official figures though. yes, absolutely. i mean if they are to be believed, they would show a moderate slowing of the chinese economy in the way that the government here has intended, but the problem with the gdp figures is that something, real economic growth could be much lower, that is partly because the provinces, when they report their gdp figures, sometimes they exaggerate them the sort of show off another times they downplay the gdp level to central government support. in terms of the military budg

premier li keqiang mentioned that the us—china trade dispute head on, calling it "a profound change".challenged china's economy quite like this, and at a time when growth is already slowing. what china's one—party state no fears most are large—scale job losses, and social instability. these young job—seekers say there's been a noticeable change in their prospects. translation: i would say this year is much more difficult, it takes ages to get a response to an application. translation: for example, one position they only recruited three to five people, but around 5,000 people applied for it. the competition is very stiff. as they streamed out of the hall, few delegates can now be in any doubt that china's economy is in uncharted territory. and the way ahead, they've been told, lies in more economic stimulus and a tightening of political control. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. britain's most senior police officer has spoken out against the prime minister's claim that cuts in the police service are not directly to blame for a rise in violent crime. the metropolitan police commissioner

premier li keqiang mentioned that the us—china trade dispute head on, calling it "a profound change". this, and at a time when growth is already slowing. what china's one—party state no fears most are large—scale job losses, and social instability. these young job—seekers say there's been a noticeable change in their prospects. translation: i would say this year is much more difficult, it takes ages to get a response to an application. translation: for example, one position they only recruited three to five people, but around 5000 people applied for it. the competition is very stiff. as they streamed out of the hall, few delegates can now be in any doubt that china's economy is in uncharted territory. and the way ahead, they've been told, lies in more economic stimulus and a tightening of political control. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. the former conservative chair, baroness warsi, has accused the party of institutional islamophobia and turning a blind eye to prejudice. lady warsi's comments come as 14 conservative party members have been suspended over alleged islamophobic comme

opening the session, prime minister li keqiang warned that the country is facing a "tough struggle" aso prop up the economy. earlier i spoke to our china correspondent stephen mcdonell to ask him whether this is a challenging time for the chinese leadership. yes, absolutely. i mean if they are to be believed, they would show a moderate slowing people come from all over china to hear the message from li keqiang. he speaks to the government achievements over the past year and what they intend to do over the next year. on that front, gdp growth is down from, well, slightly down. it is now in a range of 6— 6.5% from 6.6%. many economists said they are problems that there are problems with those figures but let's think for a moment that at least in trend terms, they reflect something. there isa terms, they reflect something. there is a slight slowing of the chinese economy. this is something the government has been trying to do anyway. that is partly because of those years of breakneck growth here that are factory driven export growth. well, that's the old china and they are trying to move

opening the session, premier li keqiang warned that the country is facing a "tough struggle", as he unveiledand other measures to prop up the economy. our correspondent stephen mcdonell is in tiananmen square. this is a big political event, partly too because there are two events under way. at a challenging time for the chinese leadership and not just because of time for the chinese leadership and notjust because of the economy. yes, absolutely, delegates come from all over the country, in their thousands, to hear this marathon speech from china's number two leader, premier li keqiang, and he ranges do all sorts of subjects. —— but. and speaks about the government's achievements over the last year and what it intends to do over the next year. now, on that front, gdp growth is down from, slightly down, it is now in a range of 6.5% from 6.6%. many economists think they have problems with those figures and do not trust them. let's assume for the moment at least in trend terms, that they do reflect something, that there is a slight slowing of the chinese economy. well, this is something that the

premier li keqiang mentioned the us—china trade dispute head—on, calling it "a profound change".hand in hand. without economic growth, the fear is there can be no political stability. before they left the first session, the delegates were told of the need to strengthen party loyalty and tighten control over religion. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. the tiny indian island of ghoramara, which sits in a delta by the bay of bengal, is gradually sinking. climate change has caused waters in the area to rise rapidly, and people who have lived there for generations are fleeing. more than half of the land is now submerged, and locals fear it will soon disappear entirely. the bbc‘s devina gupta reports. trapped by the waters that are taking away his livelihood and home. for this a3—year—old, there is no escaping the effects of climate change. he could be the last of his generation to live on this island of ghoramara in eastern india. he knows it is sinking. translation: there are more flats now, and the water level is rising. there are more floods. my farmland is all in the water. i have

li keqiang basically outlining a raft of economic stimulus initiatives.atives and the growth were figures that were in line with the forecast, and there we re line with the forecast, and there were a lot of tax cuts. vat reduction, local governments allowed toissue reduction, local governments allowed to issue more debt, et cetera. all of this is to show that china is committed that there is a soft landing. japan's population may be falling but tokyo continues to grow. more than... people are living man, with incredible demand for housing. we will be reporting from the japanese capital as part of our leading cities story. we look at the astonishing way tokyo accommodates its residents. stockill from high—rise apartments to micro homes, tokyois high—rise apartments to micro homes, tokyo is where architectural creativity has flourished. this house was built from 100% recyclable concrete, using volcanic serial in place of sand. this is quite small, isn't it? how do you make it liveable for people? we mainly think about three things. one is a japanese concept

at the opening of china's annual meeting of parliament, premier li keqiang said the government has setat 6.0% to 6.5%, lower than last year's goal of around 6.5%. it's also set its 2019 target for consumer price inflation at around 3% and its budget deficit goal at 2.8% of gross domestic product, li said. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, joins me now from beijing. lots of numbers, lots of statistics that financial markets love, they wa nt to that financial markets love, they want to know where the chinese economy is heading. but many economists question the numbers coming out of china, it don't they? yes, absolutely, i mean people really do not know whether we can trust the veracity of these statistics, but a lot of analysts will point i guess the trend. they would said he did not trust the mall, you probably would not have trusted them last you the year before, and maybe it is the same sort of differential and so given that, when we hear premier le keqiang speaking of a tough struggle and the economy slowing, it does seem and the economy slowing, it does seem that you can be

li keqiang warns of a tough battle ahead. at $9nese court set bond million. we are live in tokyo with the latest. the era of electrification. and some of the biggest brands live from the motor show. ♪ good morning, welcome to daybreak europe. a tokyo district court has chairmanformer nissan carlos ghosn's bail. he could be released today after more than 100 days in jail. manus: joining us now from tokyo is our asia conglomerates media editor. this is good news and a big ticket to pay for carlos ghosn for his release. >> it certainly is. that comes to about $9 million u.s. this was his third request for bail, first time it has been granted. prosecutors do have a chance to repeal this so it is not a done deal yet but it is getting close to that given the timing and mounting pressure that his lawyers were putting on -- putting on prosecutors. u.n. in, bring it to their attention. basically, the more countries that came down on this, the harder it will be to keep him in detention without filing new charges. new charges would be harder and harder to come by given

li keqiang came out and said we are not going to be aggressive.ne thing i think is important, if you look at net exports of steel out of china in january 2019, up 44%. the last time we had that level of growth, 2015, when you had the great commodity scare. clearly steel isn't everything, but we think it's a key commodity in china. alix: which of the metals is the most vulnerable to this? gordon: iron ore is important. iron ore has been robust because of the issue with valet, but you look at the underlying dynamics. they have ramped up this year. 16.5 incremental tons we think hits the market this year. exports of iron ore out of brazil -- brazil is supposed to be disappointing. through february 18, exports were up 13%. through february 25, exports are up 19% year-over-year. it looks like this is not having the impact people think. if that becomes consensus in the market, iron ore comes down. alix: the vale incident hasn't impacted it yet? but give it some time and it might? or you think it will still be offset. gordon: that's a great question. if

from across the country and beijing for the two week event at the opening session china's from yet li keqiang cup the growth targets lowest in the early three decades now what does this mean for that was the second largest economy yes this report beijing's new airport it's set to be the world's largest when it opens later this year china's leadership often uses political advances an occasion to flaunt its successes to the media and it's a welcome distraction china's economy is burdened with the consequences of its trade dispute with the u.s. municipalities and state run companies are struggling under high levels of debt addressing china's national people's congress premier league pitching issued a warning. we face a complex and serious situation as well as challenges foreseeable and otherwise that are greater in number and in size. we also announced market reforms aimed at leveling the playing field for chinese and foreign companies this bid to diffuse u.s. complaints has made delegates more optimistic that the trade dispute with the u.s. could soon be resolved one way and the u.s. is startin

li keqiang announced the measures to prop up the economy as he forecast a slow in growth for the year ahead. press are gathering outside this jail in tokyo where former nissan boss carlos ghosn is being held — it's thought he could be about to walk out on bail. it was set at $9 million by a japanese court. and this story is trending on bbc.com. the world's most expensive car has been unveiled at the geneva motor show. worth more than 15 million euros, or $17 million. french car manufacturer bugatti revealed its latest design to the media before the event officially kicks off later this week. that's all. now on bbc news, stephen sackur speaks to former uk national security adviser lord ricketts on hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. with just days to go until the british parliament votes again on theresa may's brexit deal, the political debate in the uk grows ever more polarised. but the legacy of brexit won'tjust be deep fractures within the political parties, this protracted national argument has also raised questions about how the machinery of government works, and th

we will have li keqiang's speech around 10:00 a.m.und the let's get views from the former u.s. commerce secretary, carlos gutierrez. also chairman of the albright group. it seems to be with executives i have spoken to there is consensus we will get a deal. you agree a deal is looking inedible, and what kind of deal do you think is most likely, what is the timeframe? carlos: it looks better. for the first time i am hearing from both countries a certain optimism that a deal is in the works. probably two or three months. the tough issue now is enforcement, verification, what happens if the deal does not come through. what happens if china does not deliver on promises. what do you do? i think that is the problem. the u.s. would like to keep tariffs. hard-pressed to sign a deal that has tariffs. that is what i think is being discussed now. how do we enforce this? tom: you have clients from across the globe. -- presidenteal trump says these are tariffs that will remain. what is the impact likely to be on your clients, on corporations around

we are expecting premier li keqiang to speak.r opening up the economy here at a time when it remains in a trade war with the u.s.. those discussions continue in beijing. it is an opportunity to hear from chinese officials about the atmosphere of the environment. chairman andy the founder of fortescue metals, andrew forrest. let me kick off with what is happening with the disaster. according to smp, a deficit of 29 million tons. what does that mean at fortescue? will you ramp up production? can you take advantage of that deficit? , irew: i think the tragedy have been through those operations. for me, deeply, personally tragic. yes, i think there will be a supply deficit and our operations are massive. we have huge railway lines and ports. you cannot turn down the dial that easily. can to do everything we see how we can help the people of china. that since we started 59 years ago. i cannot give you a guarantee. looking at investing more in high-grade iron or as a result? andrew: we have two major projects. one being approved. we ar

premier li keqiang says gdp growth is expected to be 6% to 6.5%, slightly lower than last year.ill be unchanged at 2% while the deficit will be .2% wider. more evidence is emerging that president trump trade war is hurting the u.s. economy. arestudies say his tariffs the most consequential trade experiment since the 1930's measures that were blamed for deepening the great depression. the impact of trump's duties on the u.s. is in the billions and is being borne largely by american consumers. canadian leader justin trudeau has lost another cabinet minister over an influence controversy ahead of upcoming elections. the treasury board president said she lost confidence with how the government has handled the matter. trudeau and his staff are said to have pressured the venn attorney general -- the then-attorney general. the australian government is facing criticism for allegedly spinning data on carbon emissions ahead of elections in may where climate change is said to be a big talking point. the morrison government has been boasting a quarterly drop in emissions levels, but ministe

we look at the final answer at report that premier li keqiang will deliver to the congress tomorrow. targets for the deficit. importantly, there is a foreign investment law that will be reviewed at the mpc, that may put in place stronger protections around intellectual techrty and it made ban transfer. this is a lobbying fast tracked as a response to pressure from the u.s. that could go some way. alleviating that and other trading partners of china. that they are serious about banning the system of process of force tech transfer. 3000 delegates gathering in beijing. then goesff tuesday on for about 10 days. we will be hearing from the pboc, finance ministry, a lot to look out for. ramy: very busy next few weeks ahead. tom mackenzie in beijing. thank you. donald trumprs, lashed out at the federal reserve over the weekend blaming a toost rate hikes for strong dollar. policy editor kathleen hays is here with what he said and how the fed my three act. is it more of the -- of the president's usual fed bashing? kathleen: what a lot of people are talking about on the sunday news show, when

premier li keqiang mentioned the us—china trade dispute head—on, calling it "a profound change".t a time when growth is already slowing. the promise from parliament today was more economic reform and political control. in china, the two go hand—in—hand. without economic growth, the fear is there can be no political stability. before they left the first session, the delegates were told of the need to strengthen party loyalty and tighten control over religion. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. foi’ more we can ci’oss now to monica mehta - a financial journalist who joins us from houston. classically, monica, when there is a slowdown in growth in china, chinese government pumped money into the system, are they likely to do that again, western countries may not like it but isn't that likely to be the pattern we carry on seeing? interesting, between all of the back and forth we have had with trade discussions, really at the core of the us's view on what needs to change is how the government treats subsidies to its own companies as well as its interference with tech transfers and intel