reduce is helping farmers reduce emissions and stay productive in the face of extreme weather. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. we begin this hour with news from china trade data just released shows an uptick in exports for the first time in seven months. that is according to china's customs agency, and this is a sign that factories are finally finding their footing after a bruising slump in demand. domestic demand still is low at the moment with imports down and lower than what many analysts were expecting. the chief economist at hunting bank china is back to discuss all of this with us. thank you very much for coming back here on asia business report for the better—than—expected export numbers at least. what are you making of it?— making of it? the economy in the us and — making of it? the economy in the us and europe _ making of it? the economy in the us and europe probably. making of it? the economy in| the us and europe probably is

more resilient and people have thought, especially in items such as cars, tvs as well as electric machinery. those items are the largest value and have been importing very well. china's exporter asean also include —— continued to increase and that is behind a big backdrop of industrial allocation because many of the companies are starting to see the overseas market will probably be very different in a few years and they need to de—risk from china. few years and they need to de-risk from china.- few years and they need to de-risk from china. there has been a lot _ de-risk from china. there has been a lot of _ de-risk from china. there has been a lot of concern - de-risk from china. there has l been a lot of concern expressed about the chinese economy in general, and as we look at the overarching picture, is reason to be a bit optimistic some encouraging indicators, or is it too early to say? demand remains low.— remains low. china's main economic— remains low. china's main economic drive _ remains low. china's main economic drive at - remains low. china's main economic drive at this - remains low. china's main | economic drive at this point remains low. china's main - economic drive at this point is still housing. when it comes to the housing market, i see very little chance of it being reversed anytime soon. but when

it comes to other emerging industries, especially within the manufacturing industry, the biotech industry, marine technology, erato —— aeronautics and astronauts, both have received a lot of support, a lot of the private and state backed funding, so there is tremendous potential to grow. but for the export sector, i can see more coming in the months to come for the one main reason is that between china and europe, green products export has been a major driver for china's exporter europe, but there is a higher chance that there might be a trade dispute in 2024 regarding china's green products such as wind turbine or evs, and that can cause a lot more stress. in or evs, and that can cause a lot more stress.— lot more stress. in terms of oli lot more stress. in terms of policy moves. _ lot more stress. in terms of policy moves, what - lot more stress. in terms of policy moves, what are - lot more stress. in terms of| policy moves, what are your expectations, if any at all? well, we expect at least for the year to come the main

policy will still be the fiscal extension. there will be more policies about big projects within china's major provinces, mostly central and western china, and they will centre around water conservation, water projects, datacentre, something that is related with the transformative technology to the future. but when it comes to other policies such as the one that we want the most targeting the consumers sector or the low income family, i still don't think there is much chance that a cash transfer in similarfashion as in europe and the us. similar fashion as in europe and the us.— similar fashion as in europe and the us. we will leave it there. thank _ and the us. we will leave it there. thank you _ and the us. we will leave it there. thank you very - and the us. we will leave itj there. thank you very much and the us. we will leave it - there. thank you very much for joining us with your perspective. staying with china, there is more newsletters expected because leaders from the country and the european union are meeting in beijing. state media is reporting that president xi jinping met european council head and ursula wonderland who

leads the european commission this morning. they were expected to discuss a whole range of issues including what the european union considers to be its imbalanced trade relationship with the world's second—largest economy. the president of the european union chamber of commerce in china told me earlier what the meeting means for members. first of all, we are very happy that this has taken place. we have had three, four years and we basically know engagement face—to—face and it is important that they begin to rebuild trust. have seen over past ten weeks we are having people coming to china and now the second visit from ursula vanderlin island, we think that is very positive. we are not expecting too much in terms of outcomes but we think it is very important that you begin to articulate the big points here on the very lopsided trading relationship. chinese

enormous oil capacity and of course also russia's for new pain. course also russia's for new ain. ., ., course also russia's for new tain, ., ., , pain. you are saying it is important _ pain. you are saying it is important they - pain. you are saying it is important they are - pain. you are saying it is - important they are meeting. explain to us what it has been like for eu businesses in china, and has that environment changed would you say in the last few months? indie changed would you say in the last few months?— changed would you say in the last few months? we did a poll about 1800 _ last few months? we did a poll about 1800 members - last few months? we did a poll about 1800 members and - last few months? we did a poll about 1800 members and we l last few months? we did a poll. about 1800 members and we saw that it was the confidence level we have seen over the past decade or so. two—thirds of our members indicated that it had become harder to do business in china and that it indicated they had been losing business opportunities because of red tape in china. and i think also it is fair to say we have seen there seems to be some at the top level, we saw in august the release of the so—called 24 measures by the state council that would go some way towards the concern of the business community, and of course just a week ago we saw these six nations here in the five eu countries were granted

entry for up to 15 days into china. these are positive steps. i think we are sitting on the fence a little bit and trying to figure out if this is a short—term or really an expression of a deeper change of sentiment across the top. now to the us. the chief executives of eight global banks have testified under oath at an annual senate hearing. they made comments about the state of the us economy with some bosses warning of recession and tough times ahead. they also all agreed that crypto currency should be regulated in the same way as banks are. they didn't agree with a proposal to change the rules around capitalfor debt. google around capital for debt. google has around capitalfor debt. google has hailed what it is calling a new era in artificial intelligence. the tech giant says it is the latest ai model, gemini has advanced reasoning capabilities and can in its own words more carefully. termini is an upgrade to the existing ai chatbot according to google. matter, opening and microsoft

have all said they will use the newest ai chip in a sign that players are searching for an alternative to the pricey graphics processes which can cost the marginal $40,000 for one chip, and the chips currently dominate the ai market. at the un climate talks in dubai this week, delegates are addressing the responsibility that farming has on climate change. agriculture creates around a third of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, so what really other solutions? that is something joshua thorpe has been trying to find out. on a farm in kent in southern england, an army of robots are picking the last of the season's strawberries, making sure only the right first and best shaped berries get plucked. 0nce picked, the fruit is packaged and sent to supermarkets across the country. supermarkets across the country-— supermarkets across the count . ., country. the robot has two robot arms, _ country. the robot has two robot arms, and _ country. the robot has two robot arms, and each - country. the robot has two robot arms, and each arm | country. the robot has two i robot arms, and each arm has two cameras that see in colour on its end, and those cameras find ripe berries and they allow the robot very dexterous

li tu pick those berries. when we pick each very, transfer into this inspection system which allows us to check quality and therefore place it into a panic, or if it is defective in some way, to be discarded. defective in some way, to be discarded-— discarded. the fruit picking industry in _ discarded. the fruit picking industry in the _ discarded. the fruit picking industry in the uk - discarded. the fruit picking| industry in the uk currently relies heavily on migrant workers who are becoming harder and harder to recruit. indie workers who are becoming harder and harder to recruit.— and harder to recruit. we can reduce food _ and harder to recruit. we can reduce food waste _ and harder to recruit. we can reduce food waste by - reduce food waste by eliminating recruitment risk and also help to get the environmental footprint of large numbers of migrant seasonal agricultural workers travelling increasingly long distances to our farms. these robot fruit _ distances to our farms. these robot fruit pickers _ distances to our farms. these robot fruit pickers help - robot fruit pickers help farmers like this one in southern england reduce wastage and cut emissions that arise from fruit production, and these robots are getting more and more sophisticated. they are able to detectjust the right level of ripeness in the fruit and any small defects. and this is just one example of how artificial intelligence is

helping farming and agriculture become more efficient and more sustainable. 0ver become more efficient and more sustainable. over in california's central valley, a favourable climate helps grow plenty of tomatoes. but in recent years, unpredictable weather patterns such as heatwaves and wildfires have posed massive challenges. to help address this, the largest tomato processor in the world, the morning star company, has been trialling new crop monitoring technology, provided by the us —based firm. the platform uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to help solve rowland flat wastage and over irrigation. indie help solve rowland flat wastage and over irrigation.— and over irrigation. we provide everything _ and over irrigation. we provide everything from _ and over irrigation. we provide everything from weather - everything from weather patterns, weather parameters, it tells you, all right, this is where you have the problem, this is what the problem is all about and this is what you need to do about it in order to either save the crop or increase your yield down the line. . ., ., line. the challenge that remains _ line. the challenge that remains with _ line. the challenge that remains with the - line. the challenge that remains with the use i line. the challenge that remains with the use ofi remains with the use of artificial intelligence and agriculture is one of scaling

up. data is still relatively scarce and robots are costly to produce. but with the growing need to reduce the environmental foot rental farming, ai innovation is rapidly growing pace, and it is surelyjust a matter of rapidly growing pace, and it is surely just a matter of time until it starts to bear fruit on a much wider scale. joshua thorpe, bbc news intent, southern england. i want to tell you about this. taylor swift has been named time magazine person of the year. she has broken box office records with her tour and has been declared a billionaire. that is all for now. stay with bbc news. the first ever beans grown in the uk tend during a trial at a factory.

they're delivered to us in the dry format and we have to rehydrate them. then the next process is fill these into the can. we will then add the tomato sauce and spices. what spices? the spices are unitue what spices? the spices are unique to — what spices? the spices are unique to us _ what spices? the spices are unique to us and _ what spices? the spices are unique to us and they - what spices? the spices are unique to us and they are i what spices? the spices are unique to us and they are a| unique to us and they are a secret. ~ ., ., ., secret. what are the great british public _ secret. what are the great british public think? - secret. what are the great british public think? all. british public think? all ritht. british public think? all right. what _ british public think? all right. what do - british public think? all right. what do they - british public think? all. right. what do they taste british public think? all- right. what do they taste like? beans. i would _ right. what do they taste like? beans. i would buy _ right. what do they taste like? beans. i would buy that, - right. what do they taste like? beans. i would buy that, yes. | beans. i would buy that, yes. to be honest, _ beans. i would buy that, yes. to be honest, they _ beans. i would buy that, yes. to be honest, they are - beans. i would buy that, yes. to be honest, they are better than heinz. to be honest, they are better than heinz— to be honest, they are better than heinz._ do i than heinz. really nice. do they taste _ than heinz. really nice. do they taste any _ than heinz. really nice. do they taste any different? i the seeds for these beans took 12 years to develop by scientists at the university of warwick. they aim to make them exactly the same as what shoppers expect. the same as what shoppers exect. ~ ., the same as what shoppers exect. ~ . ., , the same as what shoppers exect.~ . ., , , the same as what shoppers extect. . . . , , ., expect. we are always trying to crow new expect. we are always trying to grow new things _ expect. we are always trying to grow new things and _ expect. we are always trying to grow new things and try - expect. we are always trying to grow new things and try to - expect. we are always trying to grow new things and try to do l grow new things and try to do new things to save on food mileage and save on imports because we are importing too much food. and to be able to produce something that we consume in such great quantities

in this country. it's just unbelievable. it could take years to replace the entire supply chain from canada and china, but today marks the start of a journey to self—sufficiency. hi. i'm ellis with the catchup. tonight, ref body cams, another win for taylor swift and a teacher's pet. but first, boris johnson, the former pm, has spent his day answering questions about decisions during covid at the inquiry looking into how the pandemic was handled. he said he should have twigged how serious the virus was sooner and shouldn't have shaken covid patients' hands in march 2020. even with seizures and severe pain, 21—year—old zara corbett says she's begging for help as she copes with endometriosis, which affects

one in ten women. zara has been put into early menopause, one potential treatment for her condition. there are specialist support centres for endometriosis in the uk, but none are in northern ireland where zara's from. for a point of contact with hand. we can't go on like this. life shouldn't be like this. in this much pain. some other stories now. a trial of refs wearing body cams and adult grassroots footy will be doubled after they were used in around 500 matches and no instance of abuse were recorded. and one for the swifties — taylor swift has been named time magazine's person of the year to cap off a stellar 2023. the star said she is the proudest and happiest that she's ever felt.

the teacher's pet, this assistant labradoodle, helps a teacher in london who had a stroke. you're all caught up. bye for now. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm marc edwards. here's what's coming up on the show. losing his pep, aston villa leapfrog guardiola's struggling city side with a superb win over the champions. england back on form to level the 0di series against west indies. underfire, buttler and curran come up trumps. and, new balls, please. but it's golf which will intoduce new rules to limit the distance a ball can be hit.

we start with football, and just a day after predicting his team would win an unprecedented fourth premier league title, pep guardiola's manchester city have failed to win for a fourth league match in a row. losing i—0 at aston villa. it's the first time in more than seven years the champions have hit a run like this. but in contrast to their three draws on the bounce to chelsea, liverpool and tottenham hotspur this defeat to high flying villa was fully deserved, leon bailey's deflected shot giving unai emery�*s team all three points for a 14th home league win in a row. the 22 shots fired at ederson's goal by villa are the most pep guardiola has seen his side face since taking over at city,

whose meagre two efforts in total was a fair reflection