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The National People’s Congress signals firm stance against corruption as China’s 15th five-year plan is approved.

China’s annual legislative meeting is wrapping up after setting the country’s lowest economic growth target in nearly 30 years, excluding during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Nearly 3,000 delegates participating in the National People’s Congress (NPC) were due on Thursday to formally approve an economic growth target of “4.5 to 5 percent”, as set out in China’s latest five-year plan.

The 15th iteration of the five-year plan, an economic roadmap for 2026 to 2030, also set targets for inflation, the fiscal deficit ratio and urban unemployment.

China has set the longterm goal of becoming a “moderately developed” country by 2035 and raising gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to $20,000. The figure was $13,303 in 2024, according to the World Bank.

Planners in Beijing also continue to grapple with deep economic problems driven by the collapse of the property sector, low consumer confidence and a prolonged period of deflation.

China’s targets for the next five years include industrial self-reliance and increased state support for industries such as AI, aerospace, aviation, biomedicine and integrated circuits, as well as the development of “future energy, quantum technology, embodied artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, and 6G technology”, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

Beijing also aims to expand the use of the digital yuan, known as the e-CNY, to improve cross-border payments, according to the Reuters news agency. The digital currency is currently under development by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank.

Among the most closely watched elements of the NPC over the past week has been the release of government “work reports” from China’s many government ministries, which give insight into China’s progress in meeting its goals and the direction of its future policy.

The NPC’s Standing Committee released a work report indicating that China will soon pass a law on combatting cross-border corruption, Xinhua said.

The measure is seen as an extension of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s long-running anticorruption drive across the Chinese state, military and private sector.

The campaign appears to be gaining momentum as the Supreme People’s Court, China’s highest court, reported a 22.4 percent increase in corruption cases last year involving 36,000 individuals, according to Xinhua.

The state also recovered 18.14 billion yuan ($2.63bn) as part of its anticorruption crackdown in 2025, Xinhua said.

China’s military also identified combatting corruption as an important target in its annual work report, as well as ensuring political loyalty to Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.

The NPC typically runs for a week, and it is held alongside the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body.

The meetings are known as the “Two Sessions”, and they bring thousands of delegates to Beijing to approve short- and mid-term policy measures.

March 5 (Asia Today) — China has lowered its economic growth target to between 4.5% and 5% for 2026, marking the lowest level in about 35 years as the country grapples with deflation, weak domestic demand and mounting external pressures.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced the target Wednesday in a government work report at the opening of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress in Beijing.

The new range represents a modest reduction from the government’s previous goal of growth of “around 5%,” which had been maintained for the past three years. The change signals that Chinese leaders acknowledge mounting economic challenges.

One of the biggest concerns is the prolonged downturn in the country’s real estate sector, which analysts estimate accounts for roughly a quarter of China’s gross domestic product. The continued slump has contributed to weakening consumer spending.

Youth unemployment, U.S. tariffs and technology restrictions and broader global uncertainty have also weighed on the outlook, making even the lower end of the target difficult to achieve.

Despite the slowdown, Beijing signaled plans to support the economy through fiscal stimulus. Authorities plan to issue 1.3 trillion yuan in ultra-long-term special government bonds to finance major infrastructure projects and consumption subsidies.

The government also plans to issue an additional 300 billion yuan in special bonds to strengthen the capital base of state-owned commercial banks.

China’s defense budget will rise 7% this year to 1.9096 trillion yuan, slightly lower than the 7.2% increases recorded annually over the past three years.

The continued growth in military spending underscores Beijing’s commitment to modernizing its armed forces ahead of the centennial of the People’s Liberation Army in 2027.

Li also outlined long-term goals tied to the country’s upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026-2030, saying China aims to maintain steady economic expansion and double per capita GDP by 2035 compared with 2020 levels.

The premier said China will increase research and development spending by more than 7% annually during the plan period.

In foreign policy remarks, Li said China “firmly opposes hegemony and power politics,” a phrase widely interpreted as criticism of the United States.

However, the tone of the criticism was relatively restrained. Observers in Beijing say the cautious language may reflect efforts to ensure a smooth visit later this month by U.S. President Donald Trump for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260305010001413

WASHINGTON — President Trump, his Treasury secretary and his choice to lead the Federal Reserve believe they can coax the U.S. economy back to a boom reminiscent of the 1990s.

They are putting their faith in artificial intelligence to duplicate what happened when another technology arrived during the Clinton era: the internet. Back then, the American economy surged as businesses became more productive, unemployment tumbled and inflation remained in check.

Trump expresses confidence that his nominee to become Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, can unleash an economic bonanza by jettisoning what the president sees as the central bank’s hidebound reluctance to slash interest rates.

Many economists are skeptical.

The world looks a lot different today than it did when the Spice Girls ruled radio and “Titanic’’ dominated the box office. And the story the Trump team is telling — that a visionary Fed chair, Alan Greenspan, fueled the 1990s boom by keeping interest rates low — is incomplete at best.

“The administration is offering a rather distorted version of what actually happened in the 1990s,’’ economist Dario Perkins of TS Lombard said in a commentary.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration believes history can repeat itself. All that’s been missing, Trump says, is a Fed chair with Greenspan’s foresightedness.

AI’s influence over interest rates

Trump has repeatedly attacked current Fed chief Jerome H. Powell, whose term as chair ends in May, for his caution in lowering rates while inflation hovers above the central bank’s 2% target. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on social media in January that the president sought to replace Powell with someone with “an open, Greenspan-like mind.”

“Our nation can see productivity boom like we did in the ’90s when we are not encumbered by a Federal Reserve which throws the brakes on,’’ Bessent wrote.

On Jan. 30, Trump said he was picking Warsh.

In speeches and writings, Warsh has argued that AI-driven improvements in productivity could justify lower interest rates.

These views align with Trump’s desires for Fed rate cuts but mark a break with Warsh’s past as an inflation hawk.

In the aftermath of the 2007-09 Great Recession, Warsh — then a Fed governor — objected to some of the central bank’s efforts to help the struggling economy by pushing down rates even though unemployment exceeded 9%. He warned then, wrongly, that inflation would soon accelerate.

At issue now are gains in productivity and the possibility that AI will make them bigger — much bigger.

To economists, productivity improvements are almost magical. When companies roll out new machines or technology, their workers can become more efficient and produce more stuff per hour. That enables firms to earn more and to raise employees’ pay without raising prices. In short: Surging productivity can drive economic growth without spurring inflation.

Greenspan and the internet

In the mid-1990s, Greenspan was contending with a strange set of economic circumstances: Wages were rising but inflation wasn’t heating up.

Big productivity gains might have explained things, but government data showed no sign of them. Other Fed policymakers worried that surging wages and tame inflation couldn’t coexist and that higher prices were coming. They wanted to raise interest rates.

But Greenspan suspected that the official productivity numbers were missing something. For one thing, they didn’t jibe with the amazing tales of efficiency improvements the Fed was hearing from companies investing in computers and turning to the internet.

So he ordered his lieutenants to dig through decades of productivity numbers. The official statistics they assembled told an implausible story: Services firms — including retailers and legal practices — had supposedly seen productivity fall over the years, despite intense competitive pressure and massive investments in technology.

Greenspan didn’t believe it. He persuaded his Fed colleagues that the government’s numbers were wrong and were understating productivity. They agreed in September 1996 to hold off on raising rates.

The economy took flight.

Tardily, productivity advances began to show up in the official data. Overall, American economic growth surpassed 4% every year from 1997 through 2000, something it would do again only once in the next quarter century. The unemployment rate plunged to 3.8% in April 2000, the lowest in three decades. Inflation stayed in its cage, coming in below 2% — later the Fed’s official target — for 17 straight months in 1997-99.

History repeats itself … maybe?

American productivity looked strong in the second and third quarters of 2025, and some economists attribute the improvements to the early adoption of AI; they see bigger gains and stronger economic growth ahead.

Others aren’t so sure.

Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at consulting firm RSM, wrote that the 2025 productivity improvements “are not because of artificial intelligence’’ but reflect investments in automation that companies made when they couldn’t find enough workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Those investments are starting to pay off,’’ Brusuelas wrote.

Economist Martin Baily, senior fellow emeritus at the Brookings Institution, believes it will take time for AI to have a big effect on the way companies do business and on the nation’s productivity.

“Companies don’t change that fast,” said Baily, chair of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors during the boom era. “It’s expensive to change. It’s risky to change. The managers don’t necessarily understand the new technology that well. So they have to learn how to use it. They have to train their staff. All that stuff takes a long time.’’

A productivity boom can raise the economy’s speed limit — how fast it can grow without pushing prices higher. But it might not justify lower interest rates, Fed Gov. Michael Barr said in a speech last month.

Businesses will borrow to invest in AI, putting upward pressure on interest rates. Likewise, American workers and their families probably would save less and borrow more in anticipation of higher wages, the payoff for being more productive; that would put still more pressure on rates to rise.

Bottom line, Barr said: “The AI boom is unlikely to be a reason for lowering policy rates.’’

Even Greenspan’s Fed eventually came to the same conclusion, reversing course and starting to raise its benchmark rate in mid-1999, taking it from 4.75% to 6.5% in less than a year. (The rate Trump complains about now is around 3.6%.)

“Warsh and Bessent talk only about the dovish 1995/96 version of Greenspan; they overlook the hawkish 1999/2000 variant,’’ Perkins wrote.

Then and now

Many of Warsh’s potential future colleagues on the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee see the late-1990s experience differently than he does, setting up what could be a clash at the central bank if the Senate confirms Warsh as chair.

Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said last week that “the analogy to the late ‘90s is a little harder for me to understand.” Greenspan’s insight was that productivity gains meant the Fed could hold off on raising rates, not that it should slash them, Goolsbee noted.

“It wasn’t, ‘Should we cut rates because productivity growth is higher?’” he said.

The economic backdrop that awaits Warsh is also far less friendly than the one Greenspan enjoyed.

Greenspan was avoiding rate hikes at a time when the usually profligate U.S. government was running rare budget surpluses and didn’t need to borrow so desperately. Now, after a series of spending hikes and tax cuts, deficits are piling up year after year, and the Congressional Budget Office expects federal debt to hit a historic high of 120% of America’s gross domestic product by 2035.

Nor was productivity the only thing controlling inflation in the 1990s. Countries were lowering tariffs and dismantling trade barriers. Immigration was surging.

Now, due largely to Trump’s policies, notably his sweeping taxes on imports and his crackdown on immigration, the world is much different. “Trade barriers are going up,’’ Perkins wrote. “Globalization has given way to de-globalization.’’

“That benign era is clearly behind us,’’ said Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

Wiseman writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this report.

D4vd is the “target” of a Los Angeles County criminal jury investigation into the death of a teenage girl. The singer’s star was on the rise, with a global tour in his future, before the discovery of the girl’s remains in the front trunk of his Tesla.

The singer, whose real name is David Burke, has been the subject of the probe since November, months after the dismembered body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in the car after it was towed off a street in Hollywood.

According to a grand jury subpoena seeking to have Burke’s father, mother and brother testify in L.A., the musician is described as “Target David Burke,” who may have committed a criminal offense in California, “to wit: One count of Murder.”

The document was part of a legal challenge to the subpoenas filed by the singer’s family in Texas. The newly unsealed documents reveal that, when Los Angeles police opened up the Tesla trunk, they found “a black cadaver bag covered with insects and a strong odor of decay” inside. Investigators had been granted a search warrant to look in the vehicle Sept. 8 after a tow yard worker noticed a rotting smell emanating from the vehicle.

According to the document, detectives partially unzipped the bag and found “a decomposed head and torso.”

Criminalists and medical examiners then processed the body.

“Upon removing the cadaver bag from the front storage compartment, it was discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” the subpoenas noted. “A second black bag was discovered underneath the cadaver bag. Upon opening the second bag, the dismembered body parts were discovered.”

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman issued the subpoenas on Jan. 15, with Superior Court judge Craig Richman approving them.

The First Court of Appeals in Texas on Feb. 9 denied petitions from the three Burke family members to ignore the subpoenas.

Months have passed since the gruesome discovery of the remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Although the LAPD has publicly declined to characterize the girl’s death as a homicide, an LAPD detective referred to the case as a murder investigation in a court filing.

In November, prosecutors began presenting evidence to a grand jury, described at the time as an investigative grand jury, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case with the media.

Since then, numerous witnesses have been called in to testify, among those, one of the musician’s managers. A friend of D4vd, Neo Langston, was arrested in Montana after ignoring a subpoena and was recently forced to return to L.A. to testify.

In a Texas appeals court footnote, the court refers specifically to the singer’s true name. The court states that the “underlying case” is “The People of the State of California v. David Burke,” pending in the 506th District Court of Waller County, Texas, with Judge Gary W. Chaney presiding. There is no public case with that name, but grand jury proceedings are confidential.

The singer’s father, Dawud, mother, Colleen, and brother, Caleb, reside in Texas, according to court records. Lawyers for the trio could not be reached for comment.

Detectives have spent months investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death, as well as her relationship with D4vd.

His Tesla sat abandoned on a street in the Hollywood Hills for several weeks — potentially months — before its removal.

Authorities uncovered Celeste’s body the day after her 15th birthday. Her family had previously reported her missing.

L.A. Police Capt. Scot Williams, who leads the Robbery-Homicide Division, said the girl had been “dead for at least several weeks.” Williams said the body had not been decapitated or frozen, as some news outlets have reported.

Detectives determined that the Tesla had been parked on Bluebird Avenue since late July — around the time D4vd began a national tour. The tour was canceled soon after the death investigation drew worldwide media attention.

ATLANTA — He is weighing military action against Iran, leading an aggressive immigration crackdown, and teasing a federal takeover of state elections.

But on Thursday, President Trump’s team insists he will focus on the economy when he visits battleground Georgia in a trip designed to help boost Republicans’ political standing heading into the high-stakes midterm elections.

“Georgia is obviously a very important state to the president and to the Republican Party,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on the eve of his visit. Trump’s remarks in Georgia, she said, will highlight “his efforts to make life affordable for working people.”

Trump’s destination in Georgia suggests he has something else on his mind too. He’s heading to a congressional district previously represented by Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former supporter who resigned in January after feuding with Trump. There’s a special election to replace her on March 10.

The White House has long said Trump would focus more on the economy, and he frequently complains that he doesn’t get enough credit for it. But recent months have been dominated by other issues, including deadly clashes during deportation efforts in Minneapolis.

As a reminder of his divided attention, Trump is scheduled to begin Thursday with one of his passion projects. He’s gathering representatives from some of the more than two dozen countries that have joined his Board of Peace, a diplomatic initiative to supplant the United Nations.

False claims of voter fraud

The Georgia visit comes less than a month after federal agents seized voting records and ballots from Fulton County, home to the state’s largest collection of Democrats.

Trump has long seen Georgia as central to his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats and President Biden, a fabrication that he reiterated Wednesday during a White House reception on Black History Month.

“We won by millions of votes but they cheated,” Trump said.

Audits, state officials, courts and Trump’s own former attorney general have all rejected the idea of widespread problems that could have altered the election.

Some Republicans are now pushing for Georgia’s State Election Board, which has a Trump-aligned majority, to take control of elections in Fulton County, a step enabled by a controversial state law passed in 2021. But it’s unclear if or when the board will act.

Leavitt, in the White House, said Wednesday that Trump was “exploring his options” when it comes to a potential executive order he teased on social media over the weekend designed to address voter fraud.

Trump described Democrats as “horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS” in the post, which is pinned to the top of his social media account. He also said that Republicans should feature such claims “at the top of every speech.”

Leavitt, meanwhile, insisted Trump would be focusing on affordability and the economy.

Greene has not gone quiet

Trump may be distracted by fresh attacks from Greene, once among the president’s most vocal allies in Congress and now one of his loudest conservative critics.

In a social media post ahead of Trump’s visit, Greene noted that the White House and Republican leaders met earlier in the week to develop an effective midterm message. She suggested they were “on the struggle bus” and blamed them for health insurance costs that ballooned this year.

“Approximately 75,000 households in my former district had their health insurance double or more on January 1st of this year because the ACA tax credits expired and Republicans have absolutely failed to fix our health insurance system that was destroyed by Obamacare,” she said. “And you can call me all the petty names you want, I don’t worship a man. I’m not in a cult.”

Early voting has already begun in the special election to replace Greene, and the leading Republican candidates have fully embraced Trump.

Trump recently endorsed Clay Fuller, a district attorney who prosecutes crimes in four counties. Fuller described Trump’s endorsement as “rocket fuel” for his candidacy in a weekend interview and vowed to maintain an America First agenda even if he remains in Congress after Trump is no longer president.

Other candidates include Republican former state Sen. Colton Moore, who made a name for himself with a vociferous attack on Trump’s prosecution in Georgia. Moore, the favorite of many far-right activists, said he’s been in communication with Trump even after Trump endorsed Fuller, calling the choice “unfortunate.”

“I think he’s the greatest president of our lifetimes,” Moore said.

The top Democrat in the race is Shawn Harris, who unsuccessfully ran against Greene in 2024. Democrats voice hope for an upset, but the district is rated as the most Republican district in Georgia by the Cook Political Report.

Amy and Peoples write for the Associated Press.

SAVANNAH Guthrie is reportedly looking to quit The Today Show for good as she fears her fame made her mother a vulnerable target.

It comes just months after she filmed a segment for the show with her mother Nancy, 84, who has now been missing for two weeks.

Sources have said that the co-host is considering a permanent exit from the hit show after her mother was abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona, at around 2am on February 1.

“This absolutely came out of the blue, and I think she’s really concerned that it was because of her job,” NewsNation’s Paula Froelich reported, citing sources. 

She added that Savannah, who is said to be a “mess” as the search for her mother enters its third week, fears her fame made her mother more of a target “with bad characters”.

Just months before she was taken, The Today Show filmed a segment with Savannah near Nancy’s $1 million home, which is now a major crime scene.

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In the NBC clip from November 2025, the mother-and-daughter duo paired up for a piece called “Savannah’s Arizona Homecoming” which also featured her sister Annie.

It documented the television star going back to her roots including her alma mater and El Charro, the oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant in America where she shared a meal with her family for the show.

“I have to come here every time I come home to Tucson,” Savannah said.

Her mother has featured in several segments for the show over the years since Savannah joined in 2012.

Despite admitting they are ‘exhausted’ by the search for Nancy, who is in poor health and in need of daily medication, cops have vowed they will find her and those responsible for her disappearance.

Investigators have now reportedly turned to high-tech scanners that can detect Bluetooth signals in an attempt to connect to Nancy’s pacemaker as they run out of leads and have no suspects.

A series of ransom notes sent to the family, law enforcement, and several news outlets are further muddying the waters, with a number of them turning out to be fake.

Fox News Digital reported that the Bluetooth devices have been attached to the bottom of police helicopters that are flying in low and slow, in grid-like patterns to try to locate her heart monitor device.

But, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said the search for Nancy could now go on for years as hopes seemingly begin to fade.

Earlier this week, investigators were seen combing through the grounds of her property, and searching inside a septic tank.

On Friday night, a number of people were reportedly detained in a SWAT raid at a nearby home after mystery DNA was recovered in the case, but cops later confirmed no arrests were made.

Meanwhile, investigators are still searching for the masked man captured in chilling doorbell footage taken from Nancy’s home on the night she vanished.

Federal agents have released new details about the suspect as they hope to cut down the number of public tips that have been called in with over 13,000 reported since February 1.

Officials are looking for a man who is around five-foot-nine-inches to five-foot-ten-inches with an average build.

He was seen in the footage wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Hiker Pack backpack.

The reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case has been increased from $50,000 to $100,000.

Timeline of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home on February 1, 2026.

Timeline:

• January 31: Nancy is last seen by her family
  • 5:32pm: Nancy travels to her daughter’s home for dinner, about 11 minutes from her own house.
  • 9:48pm: Family members drop off Nancy Guthrie at her home in Tucson. Her garage door closes two minutes later.
• February 1: Nancy is reported missing and a search begins
  • 1:47am: Nancy’s doorbell camera disconnects
  • 2:12am: Camera software detects a person moving in range of the camera. There is no video, and Nancy does not have a storage description.
  • 2:28am: Nancy’s pacemaker app disconnects from her phone, which is later found still at her house.
  • Around 11am: A parishioner at Nancy’s church calls the mom’s children and says she failed to show up for service.
  • 11:56am: Family members arrive at Nancy’s house to check on her.
  • 12:03pm: The family calls 911 to report Nancy missing.
  • 8:55pm: The Pima County Sheriff’s Office gives its first press conference and reveals some clues found at Nancy’s home caused “grave concern.” Sheriff Chris Nanos says helicopters, drones, and infrared cameras are all being utilized in the search.
• February 2: Search crews pull back. Nancy’s home is considered a crime scene. Savannah releases a statement thanking supporters for their prayers, which her co-hosts read on Today.
• February 3: A trail of blood is pictured outside Nancy’s home, where there were reportedly signs of forced entry. Nanos admits they have no suspects, no leads, and no videos that could lead to Nancy’s recovery. He and the FBI beg for more tips and accounts.
• February 4, 8pm: Savannah and her siblings release a heartbreaking video directed at their mother’s abductors asking for proof she is alive and saying they’re willing to work with them to get her back.
• February 5: FBI offers $50,000 reward for information on the case.
  • 5pm: First ransom demand deadline for millions in Bitcoin passes. Guthrie family releases demand to speak “directly” to the kidnappers, saying, “We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.”
• February 9, 5pm: Second ransom demand deadline, reportedly with “much more serious” conditions.