in singapore, sam vadas, cnbc business news. >>> coming up on the show, two of germany's largest politicales confirm their candidates for february's snap election. we'll have the details after this break. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. z's bakery is looking to add a pizza oven, arissa's hair salon wants to expand their space, and steve's t-shirt shop wants to bring on more help. with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, they can think more about possibilities for their business and not the cost of their internet. it's five years of gig-speeds and advanced secu

in singapore, sam vadas, cnbc business news. >>> china added ten u.s.irms to the list in arms sales to taiwan. the firms are banned from making investments from china. the head of equities is joining us today. i have to start with what we have seen so far in asian equities today thinking about the performance for china and a lot of pressure. do you think what we witnessed today is setting the tone for the reminder of the year in terms of performance for chinese equities? >> they rallied a lot in october and have consolidated since then. people are waiting for fiscal stimulus to come through. it is disappointing thus far. i expect that to continue. today, .4% is bearish for equities. last quarter was good after the fiscal expectation. i think there is more disappointment to come. >> investors kept getting disappointed with the fact there was no actual concrete detail about potential fiscal stimulus. how is that likely to drive the narrative also in 2025? we have their big meeting happening in march. it's perhaps that time we could see upside for chinese

our own sam vadas filed this report. >> reporter: chinese stocks on the weakest start to the year.yields touched fresh record lows. china reiterated the increase of funding to fuel growth, but investors are waiting for more substance. china has slapped 28 contractors on the export control list including boeing and lockheed martin. it means the trade of the dual-use goods will be banned and they have to apply for permission to ship the items. ten contractors have been placed on unreliable list over the u.s. arm sales to taiwan which china doesn't like. that means these companies will be banned from trade making new investment in china and executives will also be blocked from entering the country. the big question, of course, now is how much of an impact does this have on the defense business and whether it will affect commercial side now. in a separate move, china is now talking about expanding export restrictions on the use of batteries and critical use minerals. some expect this to help china on lithium, but also impact the expansion plans of the companies. aussie lithium miners f

in singapore, sam vadas, cnbc business news. >> we have duncan here with us. welcome to the show.ld like to get the information on the data we obtained today. i would like to understand how concerning it is the read on international orders having dropped in the month of december. do we need to read that with a bit of caution and also a potential trade tariffs coming from the united states? >> yes, absolutely. you can see in the index firms are asked what do you think about future output and all of the pmis, not just today's pmis, but last week, chinese, all saw the big fall in sentiment. if you read the reports, firms are saying we're orried about trade protectionism. >> that's it. we don't have the certainty. we don't know exactly what donald trump is going to do. whether he is going to impose tariffs. what is the outlook for the chinese economy this year? >> so, the external outlook is very uncertain. i think we can all agree it is negative. >> despite the promises of fiscal stimulus ? >> so domestic economy. that's the question. what is the chinese government going to do to mit

sam vadas filed this report. >> reporter: rachel reeves trip to china is described as a curious times beijing welcomes the push for reengagement and there are questions if things will change particularly with the spy allegations which beijing denies. mean point out it comes at a time when both economies are facing challenges. in china, officials are desperate for more foreign investment. at the same time, they are skeptical with western trading partners like the u.s. and eu given tariffs and export controls. what is interesting is there is extensive coverage in british media, few details in china. there's been no shortage of state media commentary since starmer took office indicating an independent plan to boost trade with china. the policy is basically similar to the u.s. approach. trading china like a competitor and interfering in internal affairs, while on the other hand, hopeful it can capitalize on economic opportunities it offers which beijing reckons fuels uncertainty over the future of this relationship. in singapore, sam vadas, cnbc business news. >>> in our moment of the we