London (CNN Business) 1. China slowdown: The Chinese government announced it is slashing business taxes in order to prevent the economy from slowing down too sharply.

China is now forecasting growth of between 6% and 6.5% in 2019. That would represent a decline from last year's 6.6% rate of expansion, which was already the country's weakest annual growth in three decades.

"There has been a more complex and severe environment facing our country's development this year," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech.

However, even the lower forecast left some economists skeptical. "Growth of 6% or above remains faster than what we think is achievable in practice," Julian Evans-Pritchard and Chang Liu, economists at Capital Economics, wrote in a note.

The tax cuts and other stimulus measures could save businesses almost $300 billion a year and the announcement gave an immediate boost to Chinese stocks. The Shanghai Composite climbed almost 0.9%, while the Shenzhen Composite jumped 2.3%.