let's go ahead and get to our stephen engle on this point. stephen engle of course joining us from hong kong, our north asia correspondent. russia is said to be reaching out for help, but how far is beijing willing to go to back moscow? >> that is the big question. the cornerstone of chinese diplomacy are the five principles of peaceful coexistence and that includes nonaggression and noninterference. that is a delicate balancing act for beijing. they have not condemned russia's invasion of ukraine but they have also recognized ukraine's sovereignty and recognize there is a humanitarian crisis and that all out efforts thus be made to reach some sort of peace. the white house has treaded carefully on this not to single out beijing for its neutrality. they need beijing's help perhaps in getting beijing to exert its influence. excuse me, on moscow. and also to adhere to global sanctions. that's going to be a tricky one because at least publicly -- so this meeting between the top diplomats in china and a top official in the politburo meeting with

let's cross over to stephen engle. thing that could move the dial on the ukraine issue in the stocks? stephen: this lead up to the china-eu summit underscores the role china potentially could play or is playing behind the scenes. it is a stated ally of russia, but it has been -- its narrative publicly around the world has been a bit conflicting at times. of course they have supported vladimir putin's rationale for the war in ukraine and at the same time as expressed concern about civilian casualties and are pushing for talks to end the war in ukraine and acknowledging ukraine's sovereignty. it will be the european commission president, the european council of president, they will meet virtually and what i understand to be two different virtual sessions on friday with the premier of china followed later by resident xi jinping, -- president xi jinping. the stakes are high for all orders. china will want to talk more about bilateral trade. europe and china have huge interests on that front. i am sure the european delegatio

let's bring in stephen engle. is been a lot of built up to this over the weekend, and it could end up being a -- but what are we looking at when it comes to this covid briefing? >> a lot of people are hoping this is the worst kept secret on the planet and that is carrie lam will come through at what she hinted at last week. under pressure from business groups and others they will relax the quarantine timeframe from 14 days down to seven. when i interviewed a hong kong lawmaker, aixa: the finance indicates 7 days is enough with omicron. it depends on when because there are still 14,000 plus cases today. it is the lowest valley in more than three weeks -- talley in more than three weeks. they have to remain vigilant, so we were left to see whether she does reduce that, which so many people are waiting for, the banking community, anyone who has to travel internationally is looking for that because 14 days at a hong kong hotel has hampered business activity and travel obviously. the other one is the flight ban. that i

for the latest, let's ring in our chief north asia correspondent in hong kong, stephen engle. e hearing? stephen: the head of the company is facing potentially billions of dollars of losses on future contracts of nicole, said to be to the tune of 400,000 tons of nickel on the lme, or larger. that could equate to $2 billion in losses a day. he had a big margin call to address the short-term liquidity screeds. but he is confident -- liquidity screens. late-night meetings that went into the night late tuesday into wednesday morning with local and international banks, trying to line up lines of credit for these banks. eventually, mr. xiang guangda said based on his large nickel holdings and production in indonesia and china, and the rise of the price of nickel, it means the company has good prospects. we are learning from prospects that essentially he has secured a package of loans from chinese and international banks including j.p. morgan chase and china construction bank and others. there are some terms, like how much extra collateral will be needed, it is still being negotiated.

let's bring in stephen engle to discuss not just economic stability. the implication is also social stability. we heard president xi talk about the importance of domestic food security. stephen: political stability of course. the underlying theme in a very politically charged year with xi likely to secure that unprecedented third term. that is the backdrop of all of this. the expected range for the target ahead of the work report on saturday was between 5% and 5.5%. they went about 5.5%. the high end of expectations and well above what most tics -- what most economists expect. imf has growth at 4.8%. it tells me that the work report says it is ready to take bold steps to provide economic security. he says the risks and challenges facing the country's development have increased significantly this year. the harder things got, the more confident we must be. there is internal and external shocks. we have been talking about ukraine. domestically, they have a lot of issues. if you are going to achieve five point 5% growth, most economists say you will likely

for the latest, let's bring in our chief north asia course and stephen engle in hong kong. stood out from the talks in rome? we know there was a lack of clarity on whether or not russia is being helped by china. stephen: is very unclear. whether the meeting moved the dial on the issue of china's backing of russia, and whether it backs global sanctions, and they obviously did talk about reports from u.s. officials, anonymous u.s. officials that russia had requested military aid from beijing. i am sure all of this was discussed. but there were no deliverables -- using state-department parlance -- on this meeting. the white house called this a substantial discussion. china essentially said that the talks that lasted more than six hours, or constructive. the chinese diplomat says china is committed to promoting peace talks, that beijing opposes dissemination of inaccurate information that distorts or smears the chinese position. again, there has been lots of speculation about beijing's support for russia, whether it will be expanded to include military aid. the chinese spokespe

our chief correspondent stephen engle has more. what we know?it was a 7.3 magnitude, significantly less, i might add, then the fukushima earthquake back in 2011 that killed more than 16,000 people. that new two-year reactor crisis in japan was about nine on the richter scale area this is 7.3. i do not mean to downplay it but of course the parallels and similarity, especially people living in the fukushima preventers will be -- prefectures would be concerned about a tsunami. authorities have retracted the tsunami alert. the earthquake happened at 11:36 local time last night just before midnight. as of 4:00 a.m. this morning 88 people were injured as well as one death, a man in xoma city in fukushima prefecture reported by nhk. again, there was a small tsunami. but, there has been -- the tsunami alert has been called off according to nhk. nuclear regulators in japan say a fire alarm went off at fukushima's number one nuclear plant but there was no fire, also, water pump used to cool fuel at the number two plans were also halted before coming back

let's ring in stephen engle. confusion seems to be r eigning. phen: there is kind of an information vacuum here. there have been various media reports saying that the lockdown that will accompany the mass testing campaign will happen in late march, some say after april 17, others say it will be a partial lockdown. there is lots of confusion because we haven't gotten a messaging from carrie lam, she says they are still working out the details of the testing and whatever lockdown will accompany that. she did say that there will not be a wholesale lockdown. but the confusion is compounding the frustration and the anxiety as we have had now 55,000 plus more cases yesterday. who knows how many tens of thousands will be reported today . the death toll also mounting, 117 deaths. most of them are the elderly, as you see in the video here, of them kind of stacked up in gurneys outside hospitals, there are just too many cases for the isolation wards and for the quarantine centers to handle. so yes, we want answers. the whole city once answers and we are no

let's get to the chief north asia correspondent stephen engle.there clarity on the circumcise is leading to the crash, and what steps are the chinese officials taking in the absence of a black box or voice recorder being found? >> we know some of the circumstances, we don't know the cause. as part of this intensive review process, i'm sure they will be digging through all of the airlines, in particular china eastern, to look if there are safety lapses. they have made changes to cockpit protocols. they have to have a senior captain and a senior copilot with enough qualified flight hours as well as a third qualified pilot in the third seat. this had a training. i'm not saying that had into anything to do with it. but they are looking at the flight data. they have not found the black box, the voice recorder or the flight data recorders. this data we are getting from flight radar 24 tells us the final minute .5 plunge. this is an airplane flying at 500 any five miles per hour cruising speed, and as it began its descent it turned into a nosedive, at o

let's get over to stephen engle . is being added to this provisional list and what can the repercussions be? >> repercussions could be a potential delisting down the road in about three years. i might add that law, holding foreign companies accountable that came into low in december of 2020 now being enforced by the sec. there have been provisions passed in the house and senate to speed that timeframe up so there could be a little bit more fire under gary gensler's seat right now to enact and to enforce this law. there are about 11 companies on the list including the provisional list that have had these five companies added including baidu, including the spinoff, the video company as well as three other companies. an online brokerage platform as well as an aquaculture services company and pharmaceuticals. all listed in the united states and are on this provisional list. they have 15 business days to address being put onto the list and perhaps defend themselves why they should stay listed in the united states or should

haidi: stephen engle there. conversation. coming up, took is governor is welcoming more foreigners to the capital after -- entries this month. this is bloomberg. ♪ haidi: japanese markets are closed today for a holiday, but the yen remains in focus after trading at the six year low against the dollar. holding steady in the monday session but we did hear from the bank of japan governor suggesting it's not losing much sleep over the weaker currency. we could see the yen gravitate lower if traders see that is a green flag for more weakness. kathleen: that governor of tokyo is welcoming more foreigners to the japanese capital after a ban on new entries was lifted this month. the country is recovering from its worst wave of covid-19 infections yet and has maintained a daily 7000 person limit on arrival. she said she's looking forward to the return of travelers as the situation improves. >> the most important thing is to protect the lives and livelihood of the residents. tokyo is a large city with 14 million residents

stephen engle with the latest on the top story.till ahead, president biden says russia is mulling a cyber attack against the u.s. we consider will be next for the two country in ukraine. next, volatility could be easing despite the ongoing war between russia and ukraine. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> the expectation going into this year is that we would see basically inflation peaking the first quarter and leveling out and see a lot of progress in the second half. that story has already fallen apart to the extent it continues to fall apart, my colleagues and i may well reach the conclusion that we will need to move more quickly and if so we will do so. what i've said is that if we think it is appropriate to raise 50 basis points, at any meeting or meetings, we will do so. kathleen: fed chair jerome powell speaking at the annual meeting of the national association of business economics i n washington. let's discuss the market implications, what the market did today and bring in erin gibbs from main street asset management. i'm a fed watch

let's get the latest from stephen engle hong kong. we know about the impending eye level meeting between china and the u.s.? >> i think it is important to note that the white house as gone to great length not necessarily to callout china as specifically for its barely neutral stance for its -- specifically for its fairly neutral stance on the war in ukraine. they want to use that level on a moscow to influence boudin -- putin to end the war and to abide by and support those sanctions from the other states and other nations around the world. it is the first high-level, in person face to face meeting between the west and china. the top diplomat of china, he is a senior member and jake sullivan, the national security advisor, it will be meeting today, monday, in rome. the three top agendas will be the war in ukraine and what china can do to influence moscow, if at all. china has been reluctant to condemn the war in ukraine. they have stated that they respect ukrainian sovereignty and they wish for a peaceful solution, but they have not c

let's bring stephen engle in hong kong.be raining it comes to mass testing, lockdowns. continue to see a surge and the death toll as well. steven: yeah, everyone i speak to says the same thing. there is just an exhaustion and there is confusion because the government has not been able to properly articulate when and how they're going to do this testing campaign and whether they will be wholesale lockdown while the chief executive is saying there will not be. constant different reports every day, different reports from different media, and the government is saying we are still trying to figure out different plans. stop going to the supermarket and panic buying, china will have food and necessities brought in through ever -- whatever period they will have, a four day lockdown, nine days, so any questions right now. right now, the latest rumor is that the testing and lockdown, not wholesale lockdown will happen at the end of march. we have potentially another three weeks of this kind of speculation at a time when we have more

stephen engle. it is good news for the world economy, obviously. the trade numbers back that up. exports have moderated and are strong, down from december's numbers. it is doing well. imports down a little bit. china's economy is stuttering a little bit. consumer confidence is waning. there is that new outbreak of covid with more cases reported today. they have a lot of challenges to meet that. it was at the high-end of the rage, 5.5% growth target. the big wildcard right now on the mpc is the shift -- npc is the shift from the work report and the economy to geopolitics today. 3:00 p.m. beijing time, the foreign ministry will be meeting the press. and there we might get more of a consensus narrative from beijing on what is happening in ukraine as well as any -- you know, any talk about taiwan or defusing talk of taiwan, whatever. we are not sure what we are going to get. we will get beijing's top diplomat talking about ukraine. i am guessing the media will be asking about that. that is where the npc

let's get over to stephen engle now. do we know about this impending high-level meeting between the two of them here? stephen: i think it is obvious that the white house feels beijing is the most useful potential tool to reign in vladimir putin and what he is doing in ukraine. so, the white house has stopped short of outright condemning beijing for taking a bit of a neutral stance. i think they want to get a better clarity on whether, a, at the very minimum they will support these sanctions from the u.s. and other global nations, and b, what they really can do, putting action to their words. and that is help facilitate a cease fire and eventual peace. because friday's close of the national people's congress, the premier said all-out efforts should be made to support talks between russia and ukraine to reach a cease fire. the pressing issue now is to prevent the situation from escalating or even getting out of control. the national security advisor jake sullivan who will be meeting with the top diplomat from beijing, they

shery: stephen engle with the latest on china, taiwan and that ukraine crisis.oundup of all these stories to get your day going in today's edition of "daybreak." you can customize settings to get news on industries and assets you care about. this is bloomberg. ♪ shery: here is a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. gas bondholders said to receive dollar payments on the $1.3 billion payment monday. they received dollars even after vladimir putin issued the option of repaying debt in rubles. there were concerns putin's decree would disrupt the payment. one of europe's largest natural gas buyers will not enter into new long-term supply contracts with russia and they will resume the divestment of its russian subsidiary to recognize impairment loss on its loan with the nord stream 2 pipeline. russia counts for nearly 1/5 of their earnings last year. shall starting to limit payments of heating oil to wholesalers in germany. the company wants to ensure a can meet contractual obligations . in an email, shall said it could stop selling at delivery points.

let's bring in the stephen engle. how do you read these comments from t foreign minister? stephen: it is a delicate tight rope bause for the olympics, xi jinping input and talked about their relationship having no limits. they emphasize their deepening strategic cooperation. over the weekend, they refused to really condemn and they abstained from the u.s. security council vote on the condemnation of the invasion of ukraine and by russia. they have been fairly muted in their commentary. they see the building consensus narrative. and according to the latest statement, his first phone conversation would be softened anyway. he essentially deplored the outbreak of conflict and also used the word war for the first time. beijing has not used that terminology or use the term invasion. this might be just a translation issue. i have not heard the original phone call or the mandarin use of the word war. but the english translation of what he used was war. it is a delicate balancing act. but he says he is extremely concerned about harm to civilians in the ukraine. if you want a better

kathleen: stephen engle. , changing security says they see growth in the gaming sector.. ♪ haidi: let's look at china adrs, we did see a jump, ir after an upgrade from ubs, the index in janet now up more than 50% from its march 14 low. missing out on that rally was tencent after it declared the reckless era over, revenues rising a percent -- 8%. tencent continued to grapple with some of the issues. kathleen: let's go through those tencent results with karin kong, chief global analyst at young thing securities -- tianfeng securities. revenue rose 8% in the quarter, the first time we have seen single digit in the quarter. we know they acknowledge that china tech crackdown will limit their future growth. what kind of future growth can we expect now? >> for tencent, we have to notice for the short-term, they still have potential because almost everyone in china uses wechat. it is not just a single product. it has a lot of different products and it and a lot of functions. we will expect the marginalization of wechat will be in the short term for tencent, and in the long-term,

haslinda: let's bring in chief asia correspondent stephen engle.t's just look at the growth target, something people will be looking at very closely and how they will that. on top of that, what are going to be the highlights, or the low-lights, perhaps. stephen: seeking stability, i agree with one of our guests said that. china's economy is like trying to stabilize a boat in choppy seas. there's a lot of different headwinds and challenges right now, whether it is the continuing crackdown on big tech, or they're bigger than expected catastrophe in the housing market, and the number of defaults. and of course what is happening externally in ukraine, the delicate balancing act xi jinping has to have in regards to ukraine. so a lot of challenges -- covid, forgot to mention that one as well. of course. stability and growth will be paramount, and it will be likely, according to an economist, the lowest target range. event since. 1981 i was living in china in 1991, that is when china embarked on that disinvestment in the heavily industrial northeast. ther

shery: stephen engle, chief north asia correspondent there.surance provider aia aiming to return surplus capital to investors over the next three years. catcher exclusive interview with the cfo barth jones, next. this is bloomberg. ♪ haidi: a hasia buyback of the next 10 years. we ask about that plan and the outlook for his business. >> the share buyback we announce today is the first buyback since ipo and really reflects the consistent, strong performance of our business since ipo. we've ill to occur steadily over the last 10-11 years and we have now decided that looking at our balance sheet, which is very strong, seeing the huge growth prospects we have and the amount we need to set aside for future growth which we believe is considerable, this is beyond the needs we have currently. we have 24.8 billion before the buyback of 10 billion, so we have loads of capital available for future growth. haidi: what about volatility coming from the tightening monetary policy situation globally? garth: higher interest rates are good for us, as they are f

haidi: stephen engle there what the latest.n the next hour, hong kong deputy to the people's congress says people's quality of life cannot wait for the procurement of export requirements to relax social distancing measures. this is bloomberg. ♪ kathleen: we have had him as a guest on our show many times. he is so knowledgeable and knows so much about every economy, every central bank in asia. i'm not -- certainly not a surprising choice. one that i'm sure the imf will miss him, but there has been uncertainty about who would replace the current governor when they've been on a hawkish path. so it's important to get someone to make that job continue. haidi: steady hands during the monetary policy issue is so key at the moment. let's take the morning call ahead of the asian trading day and we are watching investors maybe should take a step back and look at fundamentals after all the volatility. treasurers say they possess fund metal strength in earnings growth. city says alibaba looks undervalued. kathleen: global markets may be ge

stephen engle is also right here in hong kong. indication of failure, but what are we hearing? stephen: a big sigh before i start this report, right? the naysayers have been saying containing the virus is a bit futile, given the numbers. 34000 and counting yesterday alone and 87 deaths. it is getting depressing. i don't mean it to affect my reporting, but i am doing the math. you are going to lockdown the city for nine days, test all 7.5 million people three times over those nine days, and restrict their movement. if you test positive, you are supposed to go into isolation. hong kong university in the most recent report says the peak of the current fifth wave as they are calling it will see about 625,000 at least cases that will be hospital worthy. meaning they need to be seven days quarantined at least. that is nine times more than even the higher end of projections for the number of new isolation wards hong kong is building. they are going to do a massive testing blitz over nine days, uncover a lot of positive cases, and what do

for the latest, let's bring in stephen engle in hong kong. we talked about the request.een a significant development. what did we hear from the talks, and would we have said it is a positive outcome? >> it is hard to say whether it was a positive outcome, other than the fact they agreed to keep open mind of communication. the national security advisor met on behalf of the white house and meeting with the top diplomat from beijing. a senior member of the politburo. the fact they talked for more than six hours is a good sign. not a complete readout of the nitty-gritty, but much of the six hours were about ukraine. they also touched on taiwan and north korea. the bulk of it was about ukraine. it came almost simultaneously with the report from anonymous u.s. officials saying in early days of the war, russia reportedly requested military aid of some sort from beijing. now beijing has denied it and called it disinformation and malicious rumors. this is what the ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson had to say about that. >> recently, the u.s. has repeatedly spread false inf

the latest is our chief asia correspondent stephen engle. getting more clarity on the circumstances that led to this crash? >> where learning the circumstances. we are not learning the cause. it would take quite some time in the aircraft is essentially obliterated. and at those speeds, we are hearing that aircraft as it went into the steep nosedive. the plane is traveling more than 640 miles per hour. at 966 kilometers an hour. the higher up you go, it is 663 miles per hour speed of sound at 35,000 feet. this plane was traveling at 29,000 feet in 595 miles per hour at cruising speed. and suddenly went into a nosedive according to the data. that tells us it does not give us an answer because i have my sources north of seattle. i have sources about how this could be the cause and a completely intact aircraft to put into a straight down vertical nosedive. they are very odd circumstances. experts are confused and baffled by the cause of this. china is ramping up safety procedures. there is a training pilot in this particular crash, many thousand

shery: let's bring in our chief north asia correspondent, stephen engle. ill be front and center? stephen: i have covered so many of these. the national people's congress and after that the chinese people's political consultant body, they are running in conjunction with each other in beijing, and there are always different challenges. leave me, china has so many challenges this year to the economy and externally with ukraine obviously, and difficulties with the u.s.. it is really others about this economic target, that is why there has always been debate about whether they should scrap that economic target, but this centralized plan of the economy, it is like the spokes of the wheel. the provinces all come to beijing and they get their marching orders. the number is 5% to 5.5 percent growth, that is what economists expect the target to be given tomorrow by the premier in his annual work report -- i have my cat here. sorry, excuse me. [laughter] it's ok. i don't want to get distracted, because they get their marching orders to go and deliver that growth rate

let's bring in our chief north asian correspondent stephen engle with more of this. is this growth target tell us? stephen: it tells us that they are fairly optimistic in the face of a lot of different challenges, because usually, they will set the bar fairly low and then exceed or at least it by -- hitting this stated target of about five-and-a-half percent, which is at the upper end of most economists range, expected. the consensus is five point 1%. the imf says even lower, 4.8% for this year. but there are a number of challenges. obviously exacerbated as well by the or in ukraine, china is the world's biggest importer of oil, gas and coal, so there is going to be some inflationary pressures in the chinese market at a time when economists are saying to meet that economic goal, in addition to, you know, softening the regulation on tech and on the properties sector, they might have to as well cut interest rates, as well as boost infrastructure spending. that is the old way they do it. it sent marching orders to the provinces to create x amount of growth and how to do

with the latest, let's bring in our chief north asia correspondent stephen engle.t is the envoy saying and how powerful is this statement? >> is pretty powerful. nuanced as well. the chinese ambassador to the united states, he spoke to phoenix television a local chinese language network. his comments are the first from a senior chinese official that clarifies sweeping joint declaration between moscow, xi jinping and moscow and vladimir putin ahead of the olympics in february that declared their relationship had no limits. in this interview, he said china and russia's cooperation has no forbidden areas. but, it has a bottom line. that line is the tenets of the principles of the u.n. charter. to recognize basic norms of international law and international relations. he added that this is beijing's guideline he follows and all of the bilateral relations. since the invasion, beijing has had the debt -- delicate balancing act supporting vladimir putin and not the war but vladimir putin of the united nations and castigating the united states for provoking war because of

for that story let's cross over to our chief north asian correspondent stephen engle and see if we haveping bags on trade floors across shanghai. what is happening? stephen: it's not just financial services. you know, companies that are called and workers before the lockdown started at 5 a.m. yesterday morning. it is the factories. shanghai is the financial center but on the outskirts there are factories. it is the base of so many other international companies that are doing business in china. like pega tron which makes iphones and shanghai, said to be operating normally because of the closed-loop system. essentially keeping workers on site in the dorms or thereabouts. where they can work and then also test with rabid antigen test on a daily basis and observe the strict covid restrictions. but not necessarily having to be locked down at home and closing off the economic production that these companies liked semi conductor manufacturing international, the chipmaker, as well, said to be operating normally under a closed-loop system. shanghai is the financial center and it is a big economi

stephen engle is in seattle near the boeing facility. it is quite an extraordinary disaster. do we know about this? an aircraft falling that far and going up so quickly. stephen: the flight was by all accounts flying perfect refined, a cruising altitude of 29,000 feet and about to go into dissent. it was well on its way, two thirds or more on the journey. it did not come according -- it then, according to the flight data, went into a steep nosedive and the knee was a ball of flame in southern china -- nosedive and was then a ball of flame in southern china. there are some any questions. the fact that they found the wreckage most likely means they will find the flight data recorders and the like. there will be an investigation and a nod of dutch a lot of experts are perplexed. it's not the case of the 737 max, this is a next-generation airplane, and safe by all accounts. juliette: disastrous. just getting to the boeing reaction, we did hear from the country -- the company? stephen: the ceo put out a statement internally to employees saying he's deeply cited -- deeply saddened.

it's get the latest with our north asia correspondent stephen engle. have any more clarity on the circumstances that led to this rash? a lot of these investigations take some time. we do see chinese authorities taking action. >> there are circumstances that led to the crash or are aligned with this crash, not necessarily the cause. it is way too early to say that one is the cause. and i am here north of seattle, i made a phone call talking to them about how the 737, the most successful range of aircraft, if you strip out the separate talk -- troubles as of late. people are puzzled how this could happen. data showing that in the stable dive. and that data shows the plane was traveling at more than 640 miles per hour. that is 966 kilometers an hour. and at times, may have even exceeded 700 miles an hour. at 35,000 feet, the speed of sound is about 606 he three miles per hour. at one point, it did exceed the speed of sound. and the sources i have spoken to say it is incredibly difficult to put a fully intact airplane like the 737 into a complete vertical

for the latest, let's bring in stephen engle. what do we know about this and the consequences?nsequences would be a potential delisting if these companies that end up on this list do not supply three consecutive years of review of their audits, which beijing and hong kong-based companies have refused to do on national security concerns another concerns. other jurisdictions have complied with the requirements under the holding foreign companies accountable back, which came into law in 2020, and now the sec taking action, and the latest added are baidu and its former spinoff, as well as another company, an online brokerage platform, another company, a services company, and another company, five companies now being added to the provisional list. they have 15 business days, about april 20, to respond to the concerns the sec has about their inability to provide their audits. they would go on that list, and again, the clock would start ticking about a potential delisting. they have to supply audits over three consecutive years. the earliest they could be delisted would be 2024, but w

stephen engle is in seattle near boeing's facilities. we are joined by brooke sutherland. t me start out with you, stephen. we know there is a decent safety record for the carrier and this aircraft. what do we know? stephen: china has had an incredibly good safety record in aviation. the last fatal crash was in 2010. this aircraft was next-generation because it was the predecessor to the max, which had those two crashes a few years ago centering around the maneuvering soft mirror augmentation system that took faulty data coming from sensors and caused this problem. this aircraft, the nexgen variant, does not have the software, and it's a completely different kind of crash. this flight was about to enter its descent into gong show -- it plummeted at 31,000 feet per minute, a terrifying nosedive. it recovered briefly before plummeting into the mountains. it is baffling aviation experts right now. these kinds of investigations will take some time. china eastern airlines has grounded its entire fleet of the 737 800. china is one of the biggest customers of that variant, some 40

we are joined by stephen engle. what's the latest you can tell us? ties have indicated that they have found a potential piece of the aircraft about 10 kilometers away from the main wreckage site, about six miles away. that potentially indicates that something came off of the aircraft midflight. the questions now are, did that cause the plane to go into that nosedive and crash? did it simply come off during the nosedive? the nosedive was highly unusual and at speeds of upwards of 700 miles per hour, nearly the speed of sound. pieces could fly off the aircraft as it was notes diving to the earth. it's about 1.3 meters long and 10 simulators wide. it was found on farmland nearby. of course, that will be part of the investigation. they have the cockpit voice haidi: let's take a look at some of the fx movers in the day session. the story continues to be dominoes with the japanese yen trading at a six-year low. some pretty outlandish things. we could potentially see a return to levels not seen since the 1990's. that means ¥150 to the dollar. we will be wait

our chief north asia correspondent, stephen engle.s turn to your bloomberg for key analysis. for a look at first word news, here is vonnie quinn in new york. bonnie: the european central bank signaling it is more concerned about regulation and economic growth. russia's invasion of ukraine has sent oil prices even higher with energy prices soaring. russia is moving to seizing and internationalizing foreign-owned brands. under the proposal, courts could consider bringing in external managers. the u.k. government has announced sanctions on seven russian individuals in retaliation for president vladimir's invasion of ukraine. they face a full asset freeze and travel ban and will be prohibited from transacting with u.k. businesses. the move effectively derails the plan to try to sell chelsea football club. i'm vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. haslinda: the situation in hong kong -- singapore seeking to attract workers with super skills in its effort to position itself as a global city. >> we have always been very open to parents all over t

for the latest, let's bring in stephen engle. what do we know about this list? >> well, it seems as though, of course, this law passed in december 2020, holding foreign companies accountable back, is being enforced, and the sec is adding companies to the list, about 11 names on the list, including the new provisional list, which now has of march 30 in the u.s., we have seen five new companies added, including baidu and others. also, an online brokerage platform listed in the u.s., another is a service company, and another company pharmaceuticals, listed in the u.s., and all three on this provisional list of the sec. they had 15 business days, so april 20, to respond to being added to this list, and claiming why they should not necessarily be on that list, and essentially the united states under that law that was passed in 2020 is requiring companies to make any foreign companies, but the chief culprits according to the sec are chinese companies as well as hong kong companies who are essentially saying that beijing, beijing is saying they are under national secur

rishaad: we are going to be leaving that news conference for the time being and get over to stephen englestarted off i saying she would address the rumors, and then did not. started talking about what is going on with elderly care homes. also looking at how we have mainland help to really come and bolster the efforts to get the territory rid of covid. stephen: yeah, that's right. this is the first time carrie lam has had a news briefing in a couple of weeks. this latest wave, the fifth wave, has been exacerbated by the number of deaths we have been seeing in old age homes, nursing homes, and disabled care homes. the death rate now for those who are not double vaccinated, the elderly, is more than 10% right now. so you can see, a couple weeks ago was the last time we heard from carrie lam. that is when she was announcing we would have this mass testing campaign. the tone has shifted considerably. you mentioned the mainland official is here. he's perhaps behind the scenes changing the focus for the hong kong government to caring for the severely ill and caring for those who potentially coul