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The Biden administration and China ended their first high-level meeting on Friday after two days of talks in Alaska that produced an extraordinary public spat and no sign of improved relations between the powers.

Speaking after the end of the meeting in Anchorage, Jake Sullivan, national security adviser, said the two sides had held “tough” discussions after an initial exchange in Thursday where they hurled accusations at each other.

“We expected to have tough talks on a wide range of issues and that’s exactly what we had,” Sullivan said after he and Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, met their Chinese counterparts. “We were clear-eyed coming in, we’re clear-eyed coming out. We will go back to Washington to take stock of where we are, we’ll continue to consult with allies and partners on the way forward.”

Yang Jiechi, the top Chinese foreign policy official who sparred with Blinken on Thursday at the start of the meeting, said the talks were “candid” and constructive, according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency.

Overall, the frosty tone of the meeting underscored that the Biden administration has no intention of pushing the “reset” button as China had hoped and relations were unlikely to improve in the near term. (FT)

Coronavirus digest

In the news

Investors brace for lira tumult Traders are preparing for a jolt of volatility in the Turkish lira after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked the country’s central bank chief, who was regarded as a key force in pulling the lira from historic lows last year. Erdogan has reverted to type with the sudden sacking of Naci Agbal. (FT)

A boom in Indian stocks Companies in the country are raising cash at the fastest rate since the global financial crisis, raising fears that share prices are overheating. Indian corporations have raised $1.6bn through 13 initial public offerings so far this year, according to Refinitiv, marking the biggest haul from equity listings since the corresponding period of 2008. (FT)

US insists border is closed as it battles migrant surge The top US immigration official said authorities were expelling the majority of migrants crossing the southern border, as the Biden administration battled a growing political crisis over the surging number of children entering the US. FT’s Jude Webber spoke to migrants in Tijuana, still hoping Biden would let them in. (FT)

Britain and EU close to agreeing forum for financial services The UK and the EU are poised to agree a new “talking shop” for co-operation on financial services, but the deal will still leave the City of London facing major barriers to trade with the 27-member bloc. (FT)

Trump plans return to social media Former US president Donald Trump will soon return to social media with “his own platform”, Jason Miller, one of his senior advisers has said, following the permanent ban on his account by Twitter. (FT)

Bank of Japan edges away from monetary stimulus The central bank has scrapped its pledge to buy an average of ¥6tn a year in equities as it edged away from aggressive monetary stimulus in favour of a more “sustainable” policy. The changes suggest Japan’s central bank has lost faith in the massive monetary stimulus it launched eight years ago. (FT)

Saudi Aramco pledges to maintain dividend Saudi Aramco stuck by its $75bn dividend pledge despite a 44 per cent drop in 2020 profits after the pandemic triggered lockdowns and travel bans that slashed oil demand, caused crude prices to tumble and weakened margins in its refining and chemicals businesses. (FT)

Two Canadians held in China over arrest of Huawei CFO go on trial China has begun the trials of two Canadians who have been held for more than two years in retaliation for the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, in a case that has deepened mistrust of Beijing in the west. (FT)

The day ahead

Central bank meetings The People’s Bank of China leads another busy week of central bank meetings, which also includes Mexico, South Africa and Switzerland. Beijing is expected to stay on hold, not just at Monday’s meeting but throughout 2021, having earlier made clear that there won’t be any sharp changes to policy. (FT)

US-UK trade talks US trade representative Katherine Tai is likely to hold a call on Monday with her UK counterpart Liz Truss to discuss a trade deal. An agreement with the US would allow the UK considerable headway in re-establishing trading relationships disrupted by its exit from the EU. (FT)

What else we’re reading

Crisis in the Himalayas An explosive cocktail of climate change and aggressive road and dam building in the geologically unstable range threatens people, economies and security of the eight countries in the greater Hindu Kush Himalayan region. A deadly rockslide last month in India demonstrated the risks. (FT)

Lunch with the FT: Myanmar artist Htein Lin The veteran activist spoke to the FT’s John Reed about his years as a political prisoner — and joining the fight against the latest coup. Asked whether Htein Lin thinks the revolution can succeed despite forbidding odds: “One way or another we have to,” he says. “We can’t go backwards.” (FT)

China suffers relapse to era of poor air quality When Xi Jinping gathered top Communist party officials in Beijing earlier this month to warn that peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 would be a “great examination” for the leadership, his message was punctuated by an orange cloud that darkened the city’s skies as China experienced its worst dust storm in a decade. (FT)

Joe Biden’s chance to end middle class stagnation Once every generation or so, America’s social contract changes. After half a century in which capital has been in the driving seat, Joe Biden has a chance to tilt the advantage back to labour, writes Edward Luce. (FT)

Creating a pipeline for black female economists Black women account for only one per cent of US economists. With The Sadie Collective — named after the US’ first black PhD economist Sadie Alexander — Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, 21, and Fanta Traore, 24, are working to change that. (Bloomberg)

Mark Carney: a chance to reboot globalisation As we seek to recover from the pandemic, the former governor of the Bank of England offers four principles for a more equitable global economy: resilience, solidarity, connectivity and sustainability. (FT)

“We need to fashion a renewed global economy founded on new dispersed networks of trade, capital and ideas that harness the creativity of billions of people, who will share fully in its rewards.”

A year without Broadway: ‘It’s like missing the punchline of the city’ Before the pandemic, Broadway was enjoying another banner year. But the devastating impact of a year-long shutdown raises questions about how New York’s theatreland will emerge. Outdoor theatre, however, is due to make a return this summer. (FT, NYT)

Video of the day

Robin Lane Fox: all the joys of spring gardening The FT’s veteran gardening columnist shares his seasonal favourites from the gardens at New College, Oxford.