for more, wendy cutler vice president of the asia society policy institute and former us diplomatjoins us now. trade relations like other parts of the us relationship with china are tense. while a lark of trade still continues to flow between the two countries tariffs remain in place export restrictions remain in place and try never increasingly is imposing regulations making it very tough for us companies to operate in their country. interesting though because economic ties still happen where discussions with geopolitical issues and onto the defensive front just shut down so we just now have bill gates and elon musk visiting china she would feel more positive about the economic side of the relationship was not clearly beijing seems more interested in reviving or strengthening the economic part of the relationship versus the military part. of the relationship versus the military part- military part. one thing i will be looking military part. one thing i will be looking out
and she explained how she viewed relations between the two countries well, trade relations, like other parts of the us relationship with china are tense. while a lot of trade still continues to flow up between the two countries, export restrictions remain in place, and china is increasingly imposing regulations, making it very tough for us companies to operate in their country. it s interesting, because economic ties still happen, discussions of geopolitical issues on the defence front just shut down. now we have bill gates, elon musk visiting china. should we feel a bit more positive about the economic side of their relationship? well, clearly beijing seems more interested in reviving or strengthening the economic part of the relationship versus the military part, and one of the things i will be looking at over the next day now is whether there is a pathway for the secretaries on the economic team for president biden to visit beijing in the coming weeks are coming months. so
a month ago we learned it had fallen to 8.7%, but food price inflation was over twice that, hurting many consumers even harder. one pizzeria owner, sergio from brighton, has been telling the bbc how inflation has been affecting his business costs that he has to pass onto consumers. we noticed that, after the first lockdown, let s say the tomato went from £20 per case to 25, and today reached £39 per case. bags of flour from £20, £21 per bag now we paid £32 per bag. another thing that is affecting is the salaries, as well the wages went up. the minimum wage is growing year by year. and this year, i think was 9% more for the minimum. so everything is affecting the price of our pizza. that is a business meant sharing impact on him. now, another area where many british households are facing the pinch is in housing costs. one mp is warning a mortgage time bomb is about to explode with mortgage rates rising. for those who are renting, many pay more still with the ave
hearing, has held what the us calls candid and constructive talks with china s foreign minister in beijing. this at the start of two days of meetings with chinese officials. mr blinken emphasised the need for diplomacy and keeping open channels of communication us officials added. the trip to china is the first by a top us diplomat in almost five years and comes months after an earlier visit by the secretary of state was postponed when a suspected chinese spy balloon flew in us airspace. can this trip reboot relations? to discuss this and what s at stake for the world s two biggest economies, i m joined by alicia garcia herrero chief economist at natixis. good to have you on the programme. from your perspective, when we are looking at trade, the two biggest economies in the world, how important is this trip? extremely important. and the main reason for this trip is not even trade, it s about assurance to really avoid a military conflict in taiwan and i think that s th
sluggish exports and waning domestic demand are both weighing on the economy. those economic concerns are part of why chinese premier wang li is in germany. that s part of the reason he is in germany. frank laban explained the balancing act berlin has to tread. i think germany is trying to do what it can to enhance the economic relationship with china while still respecting the important political bond with the united states, and the crux of this is ukraine, where both germany and the us support ukraine pushing back russia, and china s on the other side of that, with a warm embrace of putin. ~ . ~ . , putin. what challenges will both countries putin. what challenges will both countries face - putin. what challenges will both countries face moving j both countries face moving forward economically? well, there is a forward economically? well, there is a question forward economically? well, there is a question for - forward economically? well, i there is a question for ger