Tuesday newspaper round-up: China warning, retailers, EDF threat, EU deal

China has issued its sternest warning yet to the UK that bilateral ties stand at a “crucial historical juncture” over London’s deferral of an £18bn nuclear power project. Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador to the UK, drew a clear link between Beijing’s desire to see an early go-ahead for the controversial Hinkley Point power project and the future of the UK-China relationship. - Financial Times

British shoppers have shrugged off fears that Brexit would hamper consumer spending after fresh figures showed retailers enjoyed the strongest sales growth since January. The upbeat research comes despite fears by the highly-respected KPMG – Ipsos Retail Think Tank that the political uncertainty would lead to a dampening of consumer confidence which would hurt the retail sector’s fortunes. - Telegraph

EDF’s decision to press ahead with the construction of an £18 billion nuclear power station at Hinkley Point was invalid after crucial information was withheld from some board members, French unions said yesterday. Three unions representing 80 per cent of EDF employees claimed that Jean-Bernard Levy, the chairman, knew the British government would delay its decision on Hinkley before the French utility’s board gave final approval to the investment. - The Times

The UK could strike a trade deal with the European Union within two years but will struggle to win concessions on free movement of labour, according to one of Britain’s most experienced trade negotiators. Roderick Abbott, a former EU ambassador to the World Trade Organisation, thinks the UK might conclude a trade deal with Brussels in 24 months – a faster timetable than estimated by some European leaders, who have warned of talks stretching on for five years or more. - Guardian

The cost to the taxpayer of the bungled contract to clean up some of Britain’s oldest nuclear power plants may grow further as a new batch of companies considers suing the government body ruled to have mishandled the tender, including possibly the consortia that included Serco, Amec, Atkins and Rolls-Royce. A High Court judge ruled on July 29 that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) handed the £7 billion contract to decommission 12 nuclear sites to the wrong company, leaving it exposed to a claim for damages estimated at £200 million. - The Times

Downing Street has dismissed pressure to slow the implementation of the ”national living wage” in the face of lobbying from businesses concerned about rising salary bills. But Theresa May’s official spokeswoman pointed to her pledge, immediately after she became prime minister last month, to govern in the interests of families struggling to make ends meet. - Guardian

The Reserve Bank of Australia could be forced to cut the cash rate to 1% in the next 12 months and even resort to US and European-style monetary easing if global headwinds continue to weigh on the economy, experts have warned. Despite already cutting the rate twice in 2016 to unprecedented levels, the central bank faces a scenario where a deteriorating economic outlook brings at least two more reductions. - Guardian

Barclays has become the first bank to agree a deal with New York and other American states over its part in rigging Libor, opening the way to further settlements with other key lenders involved in the scandal. Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney-general, said Barclays had agreed to pay it and 43 other states a total of $100 million to settle their claims against the bank over its manipulation of the US dollar Libor rate in what is seen as the first of several similar payouts. - Telegraph

A long-running pensions quirk that created a pay gap between men and women workers is to come before an employment tribunal this year, after a trade union for Lloyds Bank staff launched a case that it thinks could be worth £300m. Women who earned guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) payments at the bank are losing out on up to £2,000 each, according to Lloyds Trade Union, which is co-ordinating the discrimination case. - Telegraph

Healthy fast-food chain Leon is to create 1,000 new jobs after raising £19m to open 50 new restaurants. The restaurant group said that it had tapped alternative lender OakNorth for the financing after traditional banks were scaling back loans following Britain’s vote to quit the EU. - Telegraph

In an attempt to reset a campaign recently flogged by a series of controversies, Donald Trump outlined an economic vision for the US, including dramatically slashing taxes, and took sharp aim at Hillary Clinton. In a nearly hour-long speech, unusually reading from a teleprompter, the Republican presidential nominee suggested Detroit itself was an example of “the living, breathing example of my opponent’s failed economic agenda”. - Guardian

British taxpayers have stood behind billions of pounds of short-term loans to customers of Airbus which are now under a bribery and corruption criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. The reliance of Airbus on UK Export Finance, an arm of the British government, to oil the wheels of multibillion-pound aircraft deals in the Middle East, Russia, China and Latin America can be revealed after an investigation by The Times into Airbus transactions.

At least 30 international trade deals worth more than $20 billion to American businesses are stuck in limbo because of a political spat over the fate of the US Export Import bank. The bank, similar to UK Export Finance, supports trade by financing and insuring foreign purchases of American goods for customers unable or unwilling to accept the credit risks of such deals. But it has become a pawn in a battle between a tiny faction of Republicans, who denounce it as “corporate welfare”. - The Times

A German court is accelerating a series of claims against Volkswagen following last year's emissions scandal. The regional court in Braunschweig said it will pick one case to act as a model to help resolve as many as 170 other damages claims, the closest thing Germany has to class-action lawsuits common in the US. - Telegraph

News Corp is pinning its future hopes on its real estate websites after full-year earnings were dragged down 28% by its newspaper publishing business. Worldwide pre-tax earnings at Rupert Murdoch’s media empire for the 12 months to 30 June were $US684m ($A894m), down from $US945m a year earlier, the US-based company reported on Tuesday. - Guardian

Shares in Meggitt, the leading British aerospace group, have leapt to a ten-month high on speculation that investors are moving in on some forthcoming takeover action. Elliott Capital Advisors, an activist US investment group with a base in London, revealed yesterday that an accumulating stake in Meggitt had taken it above the 5 per cent level at which it has to disclose its interest under City rules. It is understood that meetings have been held between representatives of Meggitt and Elliott. Both organisations declined to comment. - The Times

Lending Club revealed some of the damage wrought by its governance scandal as it posted a net quarterly loss 20 times wider than a year ago, and said it was looking for a new chief financial officer. The San Francisco-based company, which bills itself as the world’s largest online marketplace connecting borrowers and investors, said that originations of loans between April and June came to $1.96bn in the period, down 29 per cent from the previous quarter but fractionally higher than a year ago. - Financial Times

Defined benefit pension schemes will come under the spotlight in the wake of the BHS inquiry with MPs set to look at what can be done to give regulators more power to go after employers who fail to meet their obligations to staff. The work and pensions select committee, which jointly drafted last month’s damning report into the failure of BHS, has begun a further inquiry into pensions regulation. - The Times

Millions of tonnes of food are thrown away in the UK every year, with Britain wasting more than any other European country. Now a group of entrepreneurs have built an app that they hope will cut down on waste by allowing restaurants to sell food that they otherwise would have thrown away at knock-down prices. Too Good To Go, an app that launched in several UK cities this year and is now arriving in London, shows users local restaurants that are willing to sell high-quality dishes for between £2 and £3.80 – often less than half the normal price. - Telegraph