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European Central Bank President Lagarde: Increased global trade friction may weaken economic growth. European Central Bank President Lagarde: Increased global trade friction may weaken economic growth, and the growth prospects are facing downside risks. The downside risks of inflation include low market confidence, geopolitical pressure and low investment. The intensification of trade friction will make the inflation prospect more uncertain.Wang Jing, National Endowment Insurance: Opening the market for individual pensions nationwide will usher in a period of historic policy opportunities, and the five departments jointly issued the Notice on the Full Implementation of the Individual Pension System. Wang Jing, head of the market channel department of the national pension insurance, said that after the individual pension is pushed nationwide, it is expected that the market will usher in a historic period of policy opportunities. All kinds of financial institutions will build differentiated and diversified product systems around people's diversified life-cycle pension financial needs, and provide comprehensive services with characteristics and quality, especially for flexible employees and new employment forms, which will further stimulate the whole society's active awareness of pension, accumulate pension financial funds and effectively promote the development of the real economy. (Securities Society)Trump was elected as Time Magazine's Person of the Year for the second time, and Time Magazine awarded Donald Trump, who is about to re-enter the White House, with the recognition of his amazing political comeback and his historic year of assassination attempt and felony conviction. This result also confirms the general expectation. Since Bush in 2000, the magazine has awarded this honor to the winner in every presidential election. Trump was also named the magazine's person of the year when he first won the US election in 2016.

European Central Bank President Lagarde: Eurozone banks remain resilient.Australia plans to force technology giants to pay for news content. The Australian government announced a new tax plan on the 12th, which will force technology giants to pay for news content to Australian media companies, otherwise they will face the risk of being charged higher taxes. According to the Australian government's plan, all digital platforms with an annual income of more than A $250 million (about US$ 160 million) in Australia must reach a commercial agreement with Australian media organizations on the use of news content, otherwise they will face the risk of being charged higher taxes. (Xinhua News Agency)Macron said that it opposed the free trade agreement reached between the EU and MERCOSUR. On December 12th, local time, French President Macron, who was visiting Poland, said that he disagreed with the free trade agreement reached between the EU and MERCOSUR. Macron said that the impact of the agreement on the agricultural market caused widespread concern, and France would not sacrifice its agricultural sovereignty. On the same day, Macron also said that Europe must strengthen its investment in security, build a European defense base and reduce its strategic dependence on the outside world. The EU and MERCOSUR reached a trade agreement on December 6th. The Southern Common Market was established in 1991. At present, its members are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, of which the first four are founding members. The vast majority of goods among member countries are free to trade without tariffs, and a unified foreign tariff policy is implemented. It is understood that the trade agreement needs to be approved by at least 15 of the 27 EU member States, and it needs to be voted by the European Parliament before it can be approved. France, Poland and Italy opposed the agreement. (CCTV News)

Iraqi security forces destroyed eight extremist strongholds in northern Iraq. On December 12, local time, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command issued a statement saying that Iraqi security forces are continuing to track and crack down on members of the extremist organization "Islamic State" in the country. Recently, in the hamlin Mountains in Kirkuk province, Iraqi security forces destroyed eight extremist strongholds, including personnel hiding places and weapons storage facilities. (CCTV News)The European Central Bank expects inflation to cool down faster. It is reported that the European Central Bank now expects inflation to cool down slightly faster than the forecast in September. It currently predicts that the average inflation rate in 2024 and 2025 will be 2.4% and 2.1% respectively, compared with the previous forecast of 2.5% and 2.2% respectively. In the statement, the European Central Bank also said: "The anti-inflation process is on the right track."European Central Bank President Lagarde: The uncertainty brought by the next US administration is not within the forecast benchmark.