European planemaker Airbus is negotiating a new round of plane orders with China, coinciding with a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the economic superpower later this week, government and industry sources said, Reuters reported. The potential deal for dozens of jets comes amid worsening relations between Washington and Beijing, which have seen China's usually balanced airplane imports tilt towards Airbus in recent years.

HSBC Holdings Plc's board is unanimous in recommending that shareholders vote against proposals to restructure the bank and pay fixed dividends, its chairman, Mark Tucker, told Hong Kong shareholders on Monday, Reuters reported. The comment came as Ken Lui, an individual HSBC shareholder and leader of a Hong Kong-based investor group, called for a break-up of the bank. His second proposed resolution calls on HSBC to restore pre-COVID-19 dividend levels.

Pakistan has the habit of intentionally creating controversies in order to divert public attention from its own failures, according to a Financial Express analysis. Just last week, Esther Perez Ruiz, who is IMF’s Resident Representative to Pakistan was forced to speak out and clear the air on Islamabad’s “posturing on several key matters.” She told the media that there is no truth in Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement that the IMF has asked Islamabad to compromise on its nuclear programme if it wants funds.

Thai AirAsia X has announced that it will be putting its rehabilitation plan into place by the end of next month, Simple Flying reported. The Chief Executive Officer of Thai AirAsia, Tassapon Bijleveld, has said that negotiations with various creditors are ongoing but should be completed by mid-April. He hopes that if the negotiations are completed soon, then the airline can begin refunding and compensating passengers towards the end of this year. Thai AirAsia suspended operations two separate times, once in early 2020 and again in 2021.

A gauge of activity in China’s services sector reached its highest level in more than a decade in March, a sign that Chinese consumers are heading back to stores and restaurants, powering an economic recovery following the end of almost three years of strict COVID-19 controls, the Wall Street Journal reported. The reading represents a promising signal for the global economy, which depends on Chinese consumers to prop up growth this year as their counterparts in the U.S.

Chinese authorities opened a probe into former Bank of China Ltd. Chairman Liu Liange, the most senior banker to become implicated in a broad crackdown on corruption in the financial sector that was unleashed in late 2021, Bloomberg News reported. Liu is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission said in a one-sentence statement. Liu is among the highest-ranking financial executives to be targeted in President Xi Jinping’s clampdown on the financial sector.