13/04/2012 World Business Report

were reports of more deaths. Now for the latest financial news with

World Business Report. China's economy grows at its slowest rate

for three years. Eight league's three largest trade unions called

for a day of strikes. -- Italy's. Growth in the world's second

biggest economy is slowing. China's wealth grew at 8.1% in the first

quarter of this year - the slowest rate for nearly three years. The

figure is worse than expected and will worry firms and investors

around the world who rely on a healthy Chinese economy to buy

their goods and services at a time when other major economies face a

downturn. Doctor Gary Liu is Deputy Director of the Lujiazui

International Finance Research Centre at the China Europe

International Business School. He joins us from Shanghai. How

concerned are you? The growth rate is not only lower than last quarter,

but... INAUDIBLE we heard from the World Bank and the eight days ago

saying that it is also concerned about China's economy and it

wonders whether the government may have to introduce further stimulus

measures. What would you say to that?

I do not think China needs another stimulus package. The trouble is

with the monetary policy. In the past two Machrie years the People's

Bank of China has increased something to a level of more than

20%, which is obviously too high. The government needs to reduce...

Issued to give more flexibility to the banking system. Small business

is having difficulty getting bank loans in China. Also, the economy

has slowed because of the problem with real estate markets, railway

investment and earned INAUDIBLE. If investments tops, the economy has a

risk of a hard landing. Rubin Sanca. -- thank you. Factories and offices

across Italy will close on Friday due to strike action by the

country's three biggest trade unions. Workers are protesting

against pension reforms introduced by the government at the end of

last year. Italy's largest union the CGIL is also opposed to plans

to make it easier to hire and fire workers. Italy's borrowing costs

have risen sharply this week - a distrus

distrust Italy's commitment to push through tough measures. Luca

Bernardinetti is Professor at the European School of Economics in

Rome. He also works in private wealth management in Deutsche Bank

Group. He joins us from Italy's capital. Let's talk about the

government's options in terms of the union protest. Kenny to afford

to make any changes to the Labour and pension reforms? The proposed

labour reforms, including changes that will make it easier for

companies to fire workers, have all weedy prompted a general strike.

The cut -- the government has promised to push through reforms

before elections in 2013. The eurozone could not afford to bail

out it elite. Today's rally is to protest against pension reforms

which have already been passed. The unions have not yet decided a

common line on the issue. The Secretary General said there was a

deep is -- a deep discontent about the proposals. They said the

policies would lead to ease the firing. Parliament needs a solution

which includes a statement for a deterrent. Can I ask you about bond

yields? There have been rising. How much of a concern is this for the

government? It is a big problem. As Italian stocks plunged on Tuesday

after the government is set to slash 2012 growth forecasts. The

last forecast in December said BDDP would contract in 2012, but any new

figure gives different percentages. The bond yield rise is simple. A

higher return is required to compensate for the higher risk of

investing in Italian bonds. Thank you. Wells Fargo and JP Morgan

Chase presented their results on Friday. Our correspondent reports.

After America's financial crisis, Wall Street investment banks did

surprisingly well. But that tide seems to be turning. Traditional

banks, which take deposits and give loans, are the winners. Wells Fargo

is leading the way. Wells Fargo has the gold standard of the industry.

And it is growing fast. It is now America's biggest bank buys stock

market valuation. Two main areas of growth - market share it taking

from rivals. And secondly, as it pulls from Europe. That has

generated a lot of growth. It seems a major shift is taking place in

America's banking industry. Traditional savings and loans banks

now seem to have the upper hand compared to Wall Street investment

giants like JP Morgan Chase. JP Morgan Chase is still the strongest

investment bank but has cut profit estimates over the last year or and

laid off workers. The eurozone crisis has heat and the US has

implemented tough new banking regulations. Market-making

activities may be curtailed. A lot of the most profitable businesses

of JP Morgan, Citibank and Bank of America, are going away and there

is a lot more competition. Still, all banks must deal with lower

interest rates which make it more difficult to make money from money.

America's financial environment is looking more precarious, the game

main street at all Wall Street. BBC News. Google has reported a 60%

rise in profits for the first three months of the year. The world's

biggest internet search group made $2.9 billion in the three months to

March. But advertising revenues from its search business slid again

- down 12%. Increasingly people are going online from their mobile