:00:01. > :00:11.were reports of more deaths. Now for the latest financial news with
:00:11. > :00:25.
:00:25. > :00:31.World Business Report. China's economy grows at its slowest rate
:00:31. > :00:41.for three years. Eight league's three largest trade unions called
:00:41. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:49.for a day of strikes. -- Italy's. Growth in the world's second
:00:49. > :00:53.biggest economy is slowing. China's wealth grew at 8.1% in the first
:00:53. > :00:56.quarter of this year - the slowest rate for nearly three years. The
:00:56. > :00:59.figure is worse than expected and will worry firms and investors
:00:59. > :01:03.around the world who rely on a healthy Chinese economy to buy
:01:03. > :01:08.their goods and services at a time when other major economies face a
:01:08. > :01:10.downturn. Doctor Gary Liu is Deputy Director of the Lujiazui
:01:10. > :01:20.International Finance Research Centre at the China Europe
:01:20. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:33.International Business School. He joins us from Shanghai. How
:01:33. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :01:43.concerned are you? The growth rate is not only lower than last quarter,
:01:43. > :01:48.but... INAUDIBLE we heard from the World Bank and the eight days ago
:01:48. > :01:53.saying that it is also concerned about China's economy and it
:01:53. > :02:00.wonders whether the government may have to introduce further stimulus
:02:00. > :02:06.measures. What would you say to that?
:02:06. > :02:11.I do not think China needs another stimulus package. The trouble is
:02:11. > :02:18.with the monetary policy. In the past two Machrie years the People's
:02:18. > :02:27.Bank of China has increased something to a level of more than
:02:27. > :02:36.20%, which is obviously too high. The government needs to reduce...
:02:36. > :02:43.Issued to give more flexibility to the banking system. Small business
:02:43. > :02:53.is having difficulty getting bank loans in China. Also, the economy
:02:53. > :02:53.
:02:53. > :03:03.has slowed because of the problem with real estate markets, railway
:03:03. > :03:05.
:03:05. > :03:15.investment and earned INAUDIBLE. If investments tops, the economy has a
:03:15. > :03:26.
:03:26. > :03:29.risk of a hard landing. Rubin Sanca. -- thank you. Factories and offices
:03:29. > :03:31.across Italy will close on Friday due to strike action by the
:03:31. > :03:34.country's three biggest trade unions. Workers are protesting
:03:34. > :03:38.against pension reforms introduced by the government at the end of
:03:38. > :03:41.last year. Italy's largest union the CGIL is also opposed to plans
:03:41. > :03:44.to make it easier to hire and fire workers. Italy's borrowing costs
:03:44. > :03:50.have risen sharply this week - a distrus
:03:50. > :03:53.distrust Italy's commitment to push through tough measures. Luca
:03:53. > :03:56.Bernardinetti is Professor at the European School of Economics in
:03:56. > :04:06.Rome. He also works in private wealth management in Deutsche Bank
:04:06. > :04:07.
:04:07. > :04:12.Group. He joins us from Italy's capital. Let's talk about the
:04:12. > :04:18.government's options in terms of the union protest. Kenny to afford
:04:18. > :04:22.to make any changes to the Labour and pension reforms? The proposed
:04:22. > :04:32.labour reforms, including changes that will make it easier for
:04:32. > :04:37.
:04:37. > :04:42.companies to fire workers, have all weedy prompted a general strike.
:04:42. > :04:52.The cut -- the government has promised to push through reforms
:04:52. > :04:58.before elections in 2013. The eurozone could not afford to bail
:04:58. > :05:03.out it elite. Today's rally is to protest against pension reforms
:05:03. > :05:10.which have already been passed. The unions have not yet decided a
:05:10. > :05:20.common line on the issue. The Secretary General said there was a
:05:20. > :05:23.
:05:23. > :05:33.deep is -- a deep discontent about the proposals. They said the
:05:33. > :05:33.
:05:33. > :05:39.policies would lead to ease the firing. Parliament needs a solution
:05:39. > :05:46.which includes a statement for a deterrent. Can I ask you about bond
:05:46. > :05:56.yields? There have been rising. How much of a concern is this for the
:05:56. > :05:59.
:05:59. > :06:05.government? It is a big problem. As Italian stocks plunged on Tuesday
:06:05. > :06:15.after the government is set to slash 2012 growth forecasts. The
:06:15. > :06:25.last forecast in December said BDDP would contract in 2012, but any new
:06:25. > :06:32.
:06:32. > :06:37.figure gives different percentages. The bond yield rise is simple. A
:06:37. > :06:47.higher return is required to compensate for the higher risk of
:06:47. > :06:51.
:06:51. > :07:01.investing in Italian bonds. Thank you. Wells Fargo and JP Morgan
:07:01. > :07:07.
:07:08. > :07:13.Chase presented their results on Friday. Our correspondent reports.
:07:13. > :07:19.After America's financial crisis, Wall Street investment banks did
:07:19. > :07:24.surprisingly well. But that tide seems to be turning. Traditional
:07:24. > :07:32.banks, which take deposits and give loans, are the winners. Wells Fargo
:07:32. > :07:38.is leading the way. Wells Fargo has the gold standard of the industry.
:07:38. > :07:48.And it is growing fast. It is now America's biggest bank buys stock
:07:48. > :07:54.market valuation. Two main areas of growth - market share it taking
:07:54. > :07:59.from rivals. And secondly, as it pulls from Europe. That has
:07:59. > :08:04.generated a lot of growth. It seems a major shift is taking place in
:08:04. > :08:10.America's banking industry. Traditional savings and loans banks
:08:10. > :08:15.now seem to have the upper hand compared to Wall Street investment
:08:15. > :08:20.giants like JP Morgan Chase. JP Morgan Chase is still the strongest
:08:20. > :08:25.investment bank but has cut profit estimates over the last year or and
:08:25. > :08:32.laid off workers. The eurozone crisis has heat and the US has
:08:32. > :08:40.implemented tough new banking regulations. Market-making
:08:40. > :08:47.activities may be curtailed. A lot of the most profitable businesses
:08:47. > :08:52.of JP Morgan, Citibank and Bank of America, are going away and there
:08:52. > :08:58.is a lot more competition. Still, all banks must deal with lower
:08:58. > :09:03.interest rates which make it more difficult to make money from money.
:09:03. > :09:13.America's financial environment is looking more precarious, the game
:09:13. > :09:19.
:09:19. > :09:23.main street at all Wall Street. BBC News. Google has reported a 60%
:09:23. > :09:26.rise in profits for the first three months of the year. The world's
:09:26. > :09:29.biggest internet search group made $2.9 billion in the three months to
:09:29. > :09:32.March. But advertising revenues from its search business slid again
:09:32. > :09:37.- down 12%. Increasingly people are going online from their mobile