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Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Wednesday, January 5th,

and this is your FT News Briefing.

Banks in China are worried about the country's economy. Travel stocks are shooting up even though

the Omicron variant is still surging, and the EU is pushing to be in on the talks

over the Ukraine crisis that are taking place next week. Plus, a small city in Germany is home

to buy-in tech, and this city wants to hang on to the vaccine maker for dear life.

Policymakers are slightly concerned that the Golden Egg may go elsewhere.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

Chinese banks are trying to play it safe by snapping up low-risk financial instruments instead

of handing out loans. It's a sign that banks are worried about China's slowing economy,

and that there aren't as many qualified borrowers out there. But Chinese banks have these

state-mandated quotas they're required to meet. So they spent last month buying these low-risk

financial instruments. Loan officers say these instruments are the safest way to hit government

policy objectives. This comes as China's president Xi Jinping wants the country's banks to lend more,

especially to medium and small clients. And Loan officers told the FT that she's regulatory

crackdowns hurt many of their best borrowers in real estate and private education,

and that there's no sign that conditions would improve soon.

The European Union is demanding a role in negotiations over Ukraine. The US has said that Russia has

amassed more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine's border. They fear Russia is preparing for a potential

invasion. Moscow and Washington plan to talk about the situation next week. The FT's European

...