Dusseldorf At the start of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China set itself a rather modest growth target of around five percent for this year. This is the lowest target value for more than three decades.
“The Chinese government certainly wants to get down to business this year because it didn’t achieve its goal last year,” says capital city correspondent Dana Heide in the podcast. China’s economy grew by only three percent last year instead of the planned 5.5 percent due to the strict zero-Covid policy.
Defense spending is expected to increase by 7.2 percent in nominal terms. However, Heide points out that not all items are included in the official figures. In reality, the expenses are likely to be even higher. “This lack of transparency is also one reason why we know far too little about the strength of the Chinese military – and that is a major factor of uncertainty with regard to the Taiwan conflict.”
Also: The long-standing major shareholder Harris Associates has left the Swiss bank Credit Suisse. Correspondent Jakob Blume classifies the situation.
And: The Dax climbed to a new high for the year on Monday. Financial editor Frank Wiebe talks about the reasons in the market report.
More: Confrontation costs prosperity – also in China
We have an exclusive subscription offer for you as a Handelsblatt Today listener: test Handelsblatt Premium for 4 weeks for 1 € and always stay informed about what’s moving the financial markets. More information is available here.
If you have any comments, questions, criticism or praise for this episode, please email us at: [email protected]
We can now be reached on WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram via the following number: 01523 – 80 99 427