Chinese inflation has moderated as a result of the zero-covid pressure on the economy.

The United Kingdom, Japan, and Italy have agreed to collaborate on the development of one of the world's most advanced fighter jets by 2035 as part of their first-ever trilateral military program aimed at expanding their defense capabilities in response to rising security threats from China and Russia.

The Global Combat Air Programme is being developed concurrently with a rival Franco-German-Spanish programme that has been hampered by political and industrial conflicts among the countries.

The UK and Italy agreed on Friday to merge their existing Future Combat Air programme, nicknamed Tempest, with Japan's F-X project. The three countries will split the development costs, which are projected to be in the tens of billions of dollars, but the final decision on the actual contributions will be based on a collaborative assessment of costs and national budgets.

"By collaborating in an equal partnership spirit, we are sharing the costs and rewards of this investment in our people and technologies," the three nations' leaders said in a joint statement. "Most importantly, the initiative will support all three countries' sovereign power to design, supply, and upgrade cutting-edge combat air assets well into the future."

The agreement, which took years to negotiate, is an extraordinary move for Japan. It has traditionally cooperated mainly with US partners for large military weapons, but has sought stronger security relationships with a variety of allies in preparation for a confrontation with China over Taiwan.

The fighter jet is also part of Japan's expanding defense ambitions, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announcing this week that the government plans to set aside 43 trillion yen ($315 billion) for its five-year defense budget, a 57% increase over the previous time.