China's new commitment to cutting high levels of debt and ensuring 6.5% to 7% growth has lifted shares in London this morning, as well as the London Stock Exchange's confirmation this morning that its board has recommended its merger with Deutsche Boerse to shareholders.

The FTSE 100 index is 0.48% higher at 6,169.11. Meanwhile, LSE shares are 0.24% higher at 2,913p.

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China's parliament has ended its annual session by approving a new five-year economic plan, as Premier Li Keqiang says the country will push ahead with economic reforms.

The aim of the plan is to achieve 6.5-7% growth a year by 2020 in the world's second-largest economy.

Measures include cutting high debt, streamlining state-owned enterprises, and reforming financial markets.

China has been facing a period of slower growth and market volatility.

The plan, laid out by Communist Party leaders, received unanimous approval from the rubber-stamp National People's Congress (NPC).

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There is a "giant disconnect" between government spending cuts and local authorities' ability to deliver service, says David Finch, the leader of Essex County Council.

He tells Today that local government has to cut back on spending by £1m a week “because local government can’t run a deficit at all”.

The number of 85 year olds in Essex will double in the next five years, he says. The number of over 65s will be 22% of the county’s population. The simple fact is the pressure on services is growing, he says.

The council reluctantly raised council tax last year, Mr Finch adds.

“The short answer is the government… has an opportunity with the devolution deal if it would get on with it" that would allow Essex County Council to solve some of its local funding issues. 

“We have the ability and the tools to grow the economy of this county from £33bn to £60bn but we have to just get on with it,” he adds.

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Amazon is under investigation in Italy for alleged tax evasion, the company's chief for Italy and Spain Francois Nyuts has told Bloomberg, external.

The firm is cooperating with the probe, the article said.

"Amazon pays all applicable taxes in every jurisdiction where we operate, including Italy. We are cooperating fully with the Italian authorities," Amazon said in a statement. 

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Beer taxes will be frozen in today’s Budget, according to the Daily Mail., external

Chancellor George Osborne will say there will be no increase in beer duty.

The Chancellor has cut beer duty by 1p duty cut in his last three Budgets.

But the £4bn hole in the public finances has prevented him cutting again.

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In the current climate the UK should be selling goods and services abroad, says Lesley Batchelor, director general of trade body the Institute of Export.

She told the Today programme that exporting more would be one way to get the trade deficit down. But she expected the initial costs of getting started were high. She called on the Chancellor, George Osborne, to help.

"If he could muster some tax relief for the heavy investments you make up front that would make a huge difference to incentivising people to try more."

London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Deutsche Boerse have agreed terms of an "all-share merger of equals" to combine, LSE says, external.

A UK holding company will acquire LSE and the Frankfurt-based stock exchange firm.

"The Combined Group will maintain its headquarters in London and Frankfurt," LSE says.

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At the moment the economics profession is divided between two schools of thought, says economist Simon French on the Today programme: those who think the government should be spending more as the economy slows down, and those who think government spending has little or no effect.

He says: “the problem is an ideological one both within the government and the Treasury who don’t actually believe in the efficacy of stimulative fiscal policy.

“For the Chancellor, he has to make a very careful balance between snubbing out growth by being stronger on spending cuts versus sending a message to markets that he’s not wavering from the path of credibility that he’s stacked out since 2010.”

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Mike Amey, managing director of the word's biggest bond trader Pimco - his firm buys the government's debts and lends the government money - tells Today that additional cuts are "not necessary".

Why does this matter? Because the government could borrow to maintain or increase spending to stimulate economic growth - by borrowing from Pimco investors, among others. Spending cuts aren't necessarily the government's only option, Mr Amey points out.

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Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon – and a former government economist - tells Today the chancellor is “right to be concerned that 16 weeks on from the Autumn Statement the prospects for global growth have deteriorated quite significantly”.

"We’ve had a rocky run in financial markets, which are a reflection of broader growth concerns both in China but also across the broader EU, he says.

Added to that "we’ve seen a pretty strong stimulus package to try and get growth back there. It’s inconceivable that that won’t have an effect on the UK economy," he adds

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Tom McPhail, pensions expert at Hargreaves Lansdown, says there have been too many budgets in the last couple of years. 

He told the Today programme that the industry wanted to be left alone to get on with running their businesses.

"Persistent political interference, constant rule changing undermines investors confidence and their willingness to commit savings for the long term."