Xi Jinping had a meeting with prominent entrepreneurs this week... what was his message to them?

India is looking to cut import taxes in response to trump's reciprocal tariffs.

And Singapore has announced vouchers and tax breaks to help with rising costs.

Asia Business Correspondent Peter Lewis joins the show.

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Farmer confidence has risen to its highest level in over a decade, rebounding from record lows in recent years, Federated Farmers says.

The advocacy group has released its latest farm confidence survey, which shows falling interest rates, rising incomes and more favourable farming rules have led to the improved outlook.

The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further.

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The Reserve Bank is urging the Government to take a hard look at Stats NZ, with a view to improving the timeliness and accuracy of key economic data.

The department has been put under the microscope, with the central bank highlighting dramatic revisions to GDP (gross domestic product) as one of the reasons for a controversial reversal in its rate track in 2024.

NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann explains further.

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Air New Zealand is brushing off criticism from Aotearoa's largest airport.

Auckland Airport CEO Carrie Hurihanganui has suggested the national carrier's too dominant in the domestic market, holding an 84 percent market share.

She stated Air New Zealand wasn't meeting the needs of consumers or the regions.

Its Chief Executive, Greg Foran says there've been adjustments in recent months - particularly Wellington - with declines in Government and corporate travel.

"But we know how important it is to be fair to everyone in New Zealand and ensure we've got connectivity."

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The Child Poverty Reduction Minister attributes stagnant progress to tough economic conditions.

Annual figures to June show no real change since 2018, despite a cross-party commitment to halve the rate by 2028.

More than 143,000 children are estimated to be living in material hardship.

But Minister Louise Upston says a growing economy will start to help.

"For some families, the cost of living is still affecting them. The OCR drop yesterday - it takes a while for that to flow through and for families to really feel it."

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Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent in January from 4 percent in December, in line with expectations from economists.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, employment increased by 44,000 last month, with full time positions increasing and part time roles dropping.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds says the Reserve Bank is largely hoping the unemployment rate keeps growing - so they can bring rates down further.

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The name of the game for the government this year is economic growth and increased productivity.

For that, what New Zealand needs is successful businesses.

One of New Zealand’s most successful entrepreneurs believes more can be done to grow business confidence and the economy alike.

Rowan Simpson, one of the founding members and investors in TradeMe and Xero, is releasing ‘How to Be Wrong’, a book that details the unique position New Zealand is in to grow businesses.

He told Mike Hosking that while there are plenty of ideas that are not investable, there’s more than enough that have great potential.

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Given the issues around KiwiSaver, it’s a miracle any of us save anything to become remotely independent in retirement.

Last week we told you about the Morningstar rankings and how the biggest operator in the market was performing so poorly, and now we have yet another crack at where the money is actually invested.

Mindful Money is upset over the increase in funds going to fossil fuel producers. We have a 20% increase in the last six months.

That's despite the amount of new money flowing into KiwiSaver only being 7%.

Mindful Money is clearly of the view that the whole transition away from fossil fuels is still an urgent and present thing, when clearly, it's not.

What we have here is a clash of reality vs ideology.

The reality is KiwiSaver funds look for returns. The ideology is that no matter how unrealistic it is to run the world on sun and wind, we still need to sacrifice more to get there.

If there has been one crushing realisation this past year or so around that, it is the simple truth that the transition to renewables has been found out, and badly.

Genesis has half a million tonnes of coal standing by for this winter to keep the lights on. They have another half million tonnes on order, with a backup order for another 200,000 tonnes.

Someone mines that coal. That's good business and good business pays dividends.

If you hate coal don't even look at India and China. Coal is booming. It doesn’t make it nice or palatable, but it's real and investment is about reality.

We are in a time where the cold, hard truth of what we thought was going to be easy, isn't. It might not even turn out to be real.

The last thing we need is KiwiSaver funds playing dumb games like the banks and looking to deny legitimate activity, the financial life blood, it needs to produce goods and services people actually want.

What we want in KiwiSaver is a pool of money that grows. That happens by investing in relevant activities that turn a dollar and pay a dividend.

Morale indignation doesn’t fund retirement.

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