China’s state iron ore buyer flexes muscles
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The EU is proposing a new way to allow Ukraine to join the bloc, and it was the best year for US investment banks since 2021. Plus, a look into the iron ore market and the role China is playing in it, and a preview of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Mentioned in this podcast:
EU ‘membership-lite’ plan for Ukraine spooks European capitals
Jamie Dimon warns Trump administration’s attacks on Fed could boost inflation
China’s state iron ore buyer flexes muscles in talks with global miners
Behind the Money podcast: Davos’ fight for relevance
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Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, Fiona Symon, Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. |
| 0:04.1 | Today is Friday, January 16th, and this is your FT News briefing. |
| 0:08.7 | Brussels is thinking about a membership light option for new EU states, |
| 0:12.7 | and the good times keep rolling for American banks. |
| 0:16.0 | Plus, China's state iron ore buyer is flexing some muscle. |
| 0:20.2 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:31.1 | The EU has a controversial new proposal to make Ukraine a member state as part of a potential |
| 0:36.5 | peace deal. |
| 0:37.8 | Sources tell the F.T that Brussels is drafting a plan to create a two-tier model. |
| 0:42.8 | The move comes as Ukraine's progress through the existing membership process has been held up by Hungary. |
| 0:48.4 | The new tiered proposal would give Ukraine far less decision-making power than states in the higher tier. For example, |
| 0:55.3 | Ukraine wouldn't have normal voting rights in some meetings right off the bat. Keeve would gain |
| 1:00.6 | incremental access to parts of the block's single market, its agricultural subsidies, and its internal |
| 1:06.3 | development funding, but only after meeting certain milestones. |
| 1:13.9 | Some European capitals are spooked by the proposal, though. |
| 1:17.6 | They're worried it would have a negative impact on the block's future stability and would upset other candidate countries. |
| 1:26.7 | 2025 was the best year for U.S. investment banks in four years. |
| 1:31.7 | It's a milestone revealed this week when America's biggest banks reported their fourth quarter earnings results, |
| 1:37.6 | and one that Wall Street hopes will herald in a sustained recovery in dealmaking. |
| 1:42.7 | Joshua Franklin is the F.T.'s U.S. banking editor, and he joins me now to wrap up the week that it was in the banking world. Hi, Josh. Hi there. So four to the five banks benefited from this investment banking boom, but J.P. Morgan was an outlier. Why was that? So the five biggest U.S. investment banks, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan, |
| 2:01.1 | B. Van City, they all reported growth in investment banking for all of 2025, but it was more |
| 2:06.4 | of a muted end to the year for J.P. Morgan where investment banking fees fell, surprisingly, |
... |
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