Daily Briefing: US & China trade envoys meet; HSBC exits US retail banking; Australian state locks down

Trade envoys from the US and China talk on the phone for the first time since US President Joe Biden took office.

From AP

Trade envoys from the US and China talked by the phone for the first time since US President Joe Biden took office.

Biden has yet to announce his approach on the US-China trade war launched by former US President Donald Trump.

US envoy Katherine Tai said the trade relationship was "ongoing review", whilst the Chinese Commerce Ministry said "issues of common concern" were raised.

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From CNA:

HSBC is set to exit from the US mass market retail banking business, as it struggles against competition from larger domestic players.

"We lacked the scale to compete," Noel Quinn, HSBC group CEO, said in a statement.

HSBC will still retain a small physical presence in the US to serve its international affluent and very wealthy clients.

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From Forbes:

The Australian state of Victoria will go on a seven-day lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in its capital of Melbourne.

Since the beginning of the week, 26 new cases were reported, with 12 detected overnight.

Victoria has recorded a total of  20,563 coronavirus cases, making up more than two-thirds of the total cases in all of Australia.

Read more here.