let's move from Wally to sha pelan uh
with the business bulletin now we're
going to head to Beijing aren't we sh
there's no connection at all some people
have said they look like him but oh
there you go you see just need a little
hat um anyway China's the country's
Premier in China has presented the
government's work report on 2024
outlining economic objectives and
underlining the many challenges that
China is facing we go then Yeah the
speech takes place every year uh so it's
interesting to see how it evolves each
time the interesting thing this time
around is that the objectives are almost
exactly the same they were last year
which underlines China's struggles
especially as many of those objectives
weren't reached uh in 2023 at least some
of these objectives weren't reached
after years of double- digigit growth uh
China's economy has entered a new phase
in which growth rates are slowing down
just like last year the goal is to reach
5% of GDP growth in 2024 and we
shouldn't expect massive stimulus to
boost growth either as the government is
aiming for the same deficit ratio Target
as last year at 3% of deficit to GDP
ratio when it comes to jobs and
unemployment the goal is to create 12
million new Urban jobs and get the
jobless rate to
5.5% same targets as last year where
these goals were reached or even
surpassed and reaching 3% of consumer
inflation uh will be more of a challenge
though with the same Target last year
the country actually went through
deflation with prices down 0.3% annually
at the end of 2023 a phenomenon due to a
drop in domestic spending which the
premier alluded to in his speech let's
take a
listen the complexity severity and
uncertainty of the external environment
are increasing the foundation for
China's sustained economic recovery is
not yet stable with insufficient
effective demand overc capacity in some
Industries weak social expectations and
still many risks and hidden
dangers yeah one of the main drags CH on
the Chinese economy has been the real
estate sector has M the sector
represents as much as uh 20% of the
whole of China's economy of China's GDP
according to the international monetary
fund and economists at namura estimate
that a total real estate Revenue in 2023
dropped 63% compared to two years
earlier totaling 3.2 trillion Yan or
about 410 billion EUR uh the sector's
been going through a slump since 2020
when new and regular ations were ushered
in by the government to reign in what it
considered to be unhealthy speculation
and to set limits on lending to real
estate companies groups like evergrand
and Country Garden that used to rely on
cheap funding to keep projects uh
sprouting all over the country were then
hit with a cash Crunch and are now
struggling to repay their debts
evergrand was ordered to liquidate its
assets by a Hong Kong Court in January
and perhaps as a sign that this
Crackdown is maybe nearing its end the
premier's speech today for the first
time since 2019 didn't include Xin
Ping's Maxim on real estate and property
for speculation but saying that this
will actually lead to a rebound in
China's property sector is also just
that speculation let's move to the stock
markets then charl have they reacted to
this report all uh yes absolutely
Mainland Chinese stock markets as you
see on the Asian marketplaces um hit
actually over a 3-month high
on the back of that report we're seeing
the Shanghai composite close a session
just over a qu% higher elsewhere though
the H sang in Hong Kong leading the
losses um in the region and in Europe
meanwhile at the open uh we're seeing
markets in negative territory uh the
main factor there is that investors are
eyeing the European central banks
meeting later in the week where it's
expected to keep interest rates steady
although inflation is showing signs of
easing
okay let's pivot away from China now
Australia is rolling out a new
investment fund it's aimed at boosting
its economic ties with its Southeast
Asian neighbors the fund will be valued
at roughly $1.3 billion US it was
announced during a summit of the asan
Forum of Southeast Asian na Nations uh
in Melbourne comes as CRA is seeking to
reduce Australia's economic Reliance on
China after a series of disputes that
have led to trade restrictions on
Australian exports Brian Quinn has the
details welcome to thank you very much
calling it The most significant upgrade
to economic relations in a generation
Australian prime minister Anthony
albanesi unveiled a new fund on Tuesday
aimed at boosting trade with the Aon
group of Southeast Asian Nations the
government that I lead has made it very
clear more than any other region
southeast Asia is where Australia's
future lies the southeast Asia
investment financing fac facility valued
at $1.3 billion us will be aimed largely
at infrastructure and green energy
projects it's announcement comes amid a
3-day Aion Summit in Melbourne the 10
Nation group includes Indonesia Malaysia
the Philippines and Thailand nearly 650
million people with a combined GDP of
some $2.9
trillion Australia's two-way trade with
Aion topped 115 billion US in 2022
second only to its trade with China
valued at roughly 206 billion the new
fund is yet another bid by canra to
diversify Australia's economy away from
Reliance on China after a series of
damaging political disputes have
resulted in what many have called a
full-blown trade War our position on on
China remains uh very consistent which
will always uh engage in our na
interest the funds focus on green energy
represents an effort by both Australia
and Aon to turn away from fossil fuels
Southeast Asia's growing population has
a growing appetite for electricity
mostly powered by coal and gas both of
which Australia is one of the world's
top
exporters a crucial uh part of the world
economy southeast Asia thanks very much
sh pigram with the business news here