(Bloomberg) -- Happy hump day, Asia. Here’s the latest news from Bloomberg Economics:

• China announced retaliatory measures to the latest U.S. tariffs; but for Beijing, its main worry isn’t trade -- it’s the steady march toward a long-term competition that could thwart China’s rise
• In the U.S. bond market, 2019 is turning into a battleground for bets on monetary policy; meanwhile, China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell to a six-month low
• Not long ago, Shinzo Abe faced calls to resign amid a cronyism scandal -- on Thursday he’s expected to easily win a party vote that could make him Japan’s longest-serving leader
• Separately, while few expect action, many investors will be seeking answers at the end of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting
• “No one wins from a trade war,” is a standard refrain among economists. Southeast Asian businesses are trying to prove that maxim wrong
• India’s Gen Z, a key swing constituency in the 2019 general elections, has a simple message for politicians: more jobs, please
• European leaders meet in Salzburg today at the first of three key Brexit summits. The headlines could paint a slightly rosier picture than reality
• New Zealand’s central bank is unlikely to take a rate cut off the table if economic growth is stronger than it expects; while in Thailand, the central bank is set to keep interest rates unchanged today

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Chris Bourke

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.