A sharp fall in its net profit, slipping 25 in 2023 compared to the previous year. Aramco attributed the downturn to Lower Crude Oil prices and decreased production. The companys net income dropped from 161 billion in 2022 to 121 billion last year. Despite the challenges posed by declining oil prices, aramco will increase its dividend payments, providing a much needed financial boost to saudi arabia. Lets get more now from our middle east Business Correspondent sameer hashmi. With a big fall off in profit, why is it increasing its dividend . It its dividend . Is a steep fall compared to 2022. It is a steep fall compared to 2022. It is still the second best performance in terms of annual results at 121 billion. Two reasons why they increased the dividend pay out. Number one, Aramco Abbott is the main driver of the Saudi Arabian economy. Saudi owned entities own 19 of it and they rely heavily on that income to really find some these massive projects inside arabia. They tried to keep the
From all sides. For more on this joining me now is dr yujie, Senior Research fellow on china, at the think tank chatham house. Can you put that 5 target into context for us . For more on this joining me now is dr yujie, is it achievable . Thank you for having me. As many reporters described, the term ambitious because it is a very similar target to china put forward last year but only last year china started youre coming from a very low base of 5 seemed easier but this year 5 is a hard reaching target for beijing. This year 596 is a hard reaching target for beijing. Target for beiing. Weve been talkin target for beijing. Weve been talking already target for beijing. Weve been talking already or target for beijing. Weve been talking already or i target for beijing. Weve been talking already or i mentioned, we saw those clips from the premier. We listed some of the big issues for china, property crisis, youth unemployment. What, ifany, Concrete Steps were announced to address those . Wel
coming out of a very weak covid year, that is weak. gdp is much lower at 3.6%. china is really entering a structural slowdown. old growth drivers of property completely gone. a massive drag on the economy. now shifting to a new growth model, something leaning more into exports, evs. evs. .. also covid lockdowns lasted much longer evs. .. also covid lockdowns lasted much longer than evs. .. also covid lockdowns lasted much longer than other evs. .. also covid lockdowns lasted much longer than other parts - evs. .. also covid lockdowns lasted much longer than other parts of. evs. .. also covid lockdowns lasted | much longer than other parts of the world and we are in a situation now where there is deflation in china. i wonder, in this mix, one of the other things we have been reporting todayis other things we have been reporting today is that the chinese population is in decline. it felt last year for the second year in a row. does not play a role in these figures, do you
justice department throws 37 charges at former president donald trump saying he mishandled classified documents. the indictments say the papers laid out everything from america s military weaknesses to foreign nations nuclear capacities. what does it mean for u.s. security? should he have been indicted? i m an innocent man. i did nothing wrong. then artificial intelligence may be the most important development of our time, but is it the most dangerous as well? we know it will replace jobs and blur the lines of reality, but could it be a larger, existential threat? i ll talk to geoffrey hinton known as the godfather of ai who says yes. the worry is can we keep them working for us when they re much more intelligent than us? also, how do you end extreme poverty globally? it s a very tall order, but r.j. banga wants to do just that. he s the brand new head of the world bank. he s tasked with taking global action in a world where the west and russia are at odds
the russian prison was called a criminal, returning to the crime scene. it was the first time mr burton had been to newly occupied ukrainian territory. now my bbc news, talking business. let s take a look at what is on the show. spy balloons, tiktok and taiwan. trouble is never far away from the us china relationship so what do mounting tensions mean for the global economy? xijinping in a new term. joe biden halfway through his first, strains between the world s two biggest economies have deepened so what will it take to improve them? a growing number of us firms are looking beyond china to invest their cash. the president of the american chamber of commerce in china tells us why they re having second thoughts. that s despite us china trade hitting a record high last year and with the president s increasing his power this expert tells us what this means for economic ambitions. when will the rivalry have the consequences for the rest of us? we ll hear from the former head of t