FirstFT: Today’s top stories | Financial Times

The EU’s trade policy chief has warned that China’s decision to escalate a sanctions row could imperil a market-access deal meant to be the cornerstone of future relations between Brussels and Beijing. 

Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s trade commissioner, said that the fate of the newly negotiated EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment was tied up in the diplomatic dispute that erupted this week.

The European Commission last year agreed a treaty with Beijing that would open up investment opportunities in China’s market and address longstanding EU companies’ complaints about unfair treatment by warding off the risk of operating in China at a disadvantage compared with US rivals.

Beijing announced the sanctions on Monday in retaliation against travel bans and asset freezes imposed on four Chinese officials and a security organisation over the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang in a co-ordinated step by the EU, US, Canada and the UK. (FT)

Coronavirus digest

• AstraZeneca pledged to publish more data on its US clinical trial “within 48 hours” after an independent monitoring board said the results were misleading.

• Boris Johnson has been criticised after telling Tory MPs that the UK’s successful vaccination programme was the result of “greed” and “capitalism”.

• Policy mis-steps have been blamed for central and eastern Europe’s third wave; the Czech Republic now holds the highest cumulative death toll per capita in the world.

• South Africa’s rollout has laid bare the developing world’s vaccine struggles.

• China’s role in the global vaccination drive has been overshadowed by concerns over supplies, high prices and unexplained instances of low immunity.

• Germany is extending its lockdown until April 18, Angela Merkel announced, with even tougher restrictions during Easter.

• The US will in July embark on its first national child allowance experiment, aligning the country with many other wealthy nations.

• From chip shortages shuttering car plants to shipping delays and soaring costs, coronavirus has shone a spotlight on supply chain deficiencies. But European groups including Volkswagen and Daimler are reluctant to overhaul “just-in-time” supply chains. Hyundai Motor is facing production curbs from April because of the shortages. (FT, DW)

Just as the pandemic has led many to re-evaluate their working lives and lifestyles, so too with relationships, writes Emma Jacobs. Follow our live blog for the latest.

In the news

NatWest to overhaul retail business The UK state-owned bank is set to revamp its core retail banking business to fight fintech rivals and increase revenues amid low interest rates. Changes will include making staff available for longer hours and introducing investment products for less affluent savers, according to people briefed on the plans. (FT)

N Ireland groups hit by EU restrictions Officials have warned lenders that struggling Northern Ireland companies may be “ineligible” for the UK’s new loan scheme if they fall foul of EU state aid rules that continue to apply in the region after Brexit. (FT)

Janet Yellen says tax rises needed In testimony alongside Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell before the House financial services committee, the US Treasury secretary said tax increases would be required to fund the next stages of the Biden administration’s economic agenda involving roughly $3tn in spending on infrastructure, clean energy and education. US stocks slid. (FT)

US-EU to revive joint China effort Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, will relaunch the US-EU China dialogue with Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, on Wednesday in Brussels, according to people familiar with the plan. Talks will focus on issues such as human rights and security. Blinken also vowed to revive fraying ties with Nato allies. (FT)

Abu Dhabi’s multibillion-pound UK investment The UAE has agreed a multibillion-pound investment partnership with the UK to invest in British health, technology, clean energy and infrastructure, delivering a significant post-Brexit boost to Boris Johnson. (FT)

Robinhood files for IPO The stock trading app has filed paperwork with regulators for a public offering, setting up what is expected to be one of this year’s largest and most contentious listings on US markets. Robinhood chose Nasdaq for its listing, which could come in the next few months.

• GameStop, whose shares were the subject of a day-trading frenzy on apps including Robinhood, recorded its first quarterly increase in same-store sales in two years and installed a former Amazon executive as its operating chief. (FT)

Wirecard fraud ‘started more than a decade ago’ A former top executive at the payments group informed Munich prosecutors that, starting in 2010, he created an array of shell companies in Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands at the behest of Jan Marsalek, Wirecard’s former chief operating officer, who is now on Interpol’s most-wanted list, said people with knowledge of the matter. (FT)

The day ahead

UK ‘two-tier’ asylum system Ministers will on Wednesday lay out plans that for the first time will discriminate against asylum claims from migrants who break immigration law to enter the country, making it harder for them to remain by only granting them “temporary protection”. (FT)

EU tightens vaccine exports The European Commission will unveil plans to strength the bloc’s capacity to stop coronavirus vaccine exports in supply disputes such as its escalating battle with the UK and AstraZeneca. (FT)

Economic data The UK has CPI data for February out. The IHS Markit purchasing managers’ survey is expected to indicate a further slowdown in eurozone business activity in March, while US durable goods orders are expected to rise in February, the 10th straight month. (FT, WSJ)

Earnings round-up General Mills, Xiaomi and E.ON report. Tencent also posts full-year results. (FT)

What else we’re reading

Hopes and fears of the global recovery The recovery from Covid-19 is here, driven above all, by the arrival of vaccines, but also by our improved ability to combine economic activity with social distancing, and huge fiscal and monetary support. Yet that is vital not to forget the perils we still face and the lessons we still must learn, writes Martin Wolf. (FT)

Goldman shows long hours and Covid don’t mix Remote work has been a disaster for businesses that rely on an apprenticeship model, writes Brooke Masters. Many young workers have never met their bosses in person. Junior staff feel less connected to the institution, while senior workers find it hard to judge when underlings are struggling.

• Jane Fraser, Citigroup chief executive, has called for a working life reset, saying the blurring of lines between work and home is “simply not sustainable”. (FT)

TSMC: the most important company few have heard of Amid global chip shortages and superpower tech competition, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the largest contract chipmaker in the world, is dominating. The impact of its new fabrication plant in a rural town in southern Taiwan will radiate far further: in the world of semiconductors, it has become the centre of the universe. (FT)

The activist fund that helped topple Danone’s CEO Bluebell Capital, a hedge fund boutique that is fewer than two years old and runs just €70m in assets, became the public face of a campaign that led to the ousting of Danone chief executive Emmanuel Faber last week, after it verbalised shareholder frustration over poor performance. (FT)

Erdogan’s tantrum is a sign of weakness Cocooned by courtiers after pushing aside independent aides, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has almost lost the ability to set coherent policy, writes David Gardner. His reversal to eccentric monetary policies carries huge risks. Turkey’s money market showed signs of stress after the president fired the central bank chief. (FT)

Podcast of the day

Pay off the credit card or buy a house? When Claer Barrett and US financial services worker Josh last spoke, he was hiding thousands of dollars in credit card debt from his wife. Under lockdown, the couple managed to save up enough to pay it off. Six months later, has he cut up his cards, did he buy a property and are he and his wife talking openly about money? Listen to the latest episode of the Money Clinic. (FT)