chinese authorities pledge to stabilise stocks as the latest government support measures failed to prop up investor confidence. plus, a game—changer for small businesses — how artificial intelligence helps them save time and money. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin in china where, over the weekend, authorities have vowed to stabilise markets. it comes after another volatile session on friday that saw shares dropping to their lowest level in five years. a series of government support measures have failed to prop up stocks. injanuary, china's blue—chip csi 300 index tumbled 6.3% as authorities struggle to boost investor

confidence, which has been hit by an economic slowdown and a deepening crisis in the property sector. earlier, i spoke to charu chanana from investment bank saxo, and she told me investors want to see beijing implement long—term structural reforms. it's not something that can offer that long—term comfort to chinese investors or those who are actually looking for the stocks to get dirt cheap and kind of, you know, make an entry into that market. these are measures that we have obviously seen in the past as well, in the last few weeks, and all they really do is to try to put a floor but it is not something that investors are excited about, the chinese market. i think investors are really waiting for some kind of a structural reform there. and just the whole message that has been coming out of the politbureau meeting and the lack of details on when we are really going to see that third plan meeting which actually focuses on the structural side

of the economy. i mean, those are — those are really factors that failed to really build up the confidence in a more sustainable way at this point. and given the economic headwinds and the more structural issues that you're talking about, more pressures is not going to move the needle when it comes to appeasing investors, do you think? yeah, i mean, absolutely. these are measures we have seen come and go all over 2023. they have ramped up a little bit in the first weeks of 2024, but, obviously, what worries investors is that — how can these measures really restore the confidence in the economy where you have such a deepening property sector crisis? and now, even from a global stage, you know, the fragmentation game is being played out out so broadly. —— you know, the fragmentation game is being played out so broadly. the us election risk is really

huge for china as well, and i think that is probably going to play on the minds of investors, again, who really want to make a comeback into the chinese markets. they are probably going to be pushed a little bit more as these headwinds continue to play out. so these short—term measures, i think, as i said, they can probably help some short—term traders, you can see a floor but it is not something that can really create a bull market in china right now. we all know donald trump is vying for a second term in office but has his tough stance on china changed? speaking to fox news, the republican presidential nominee said he would reimpose tariffs that china that could exceed 60% if he was re—elected to the white house. when asked if he would start another trade war with beijing, trump shrugged it off, saying president xi was a good friend of his and that he wanted to see "china do great." now, the chair of the us federal reservejerome powell said the central bank should be prudent in deciding when to cut interest rates. speaking on the cbs show 60 minutes, powell said given the economy, policy makers can afford to wake a little while longer to make sure inflation is moving down to 2% in a sustainable way. it comes after last week's fed

meeting in which the central bank decided to hold interest rates steady at a 23—year high. foxconn warns there is a shortage of chips for al servers. the company's chairman says production capacity cannot keep up with demand and new factories may be needed. despite that, liu young—way is still optimistic about the outlook for the year, forecasting is slightly better for 202a. and staying with al, we've been hearing a lot about how much big tech firms are investing in the technology.

but today we're going to focus on how can help small businesses save time and money. and as inflation is still very much in the picture, this could be a game changer. earlier i spoke to venture capitalist and founding partner at oxford capital, david mott. he told me about profound changes happening in the start—up scene right now. what we're seeing today is a paradigms shift in the way that start—ups are using their capital to become more productive, more efficient, and make every dollar go further. for example, we are seeing companies able to generate some really significant productivity savings through, for example, hiring fewer engineers but getting each of their engineers to work that much more efficiently. so we're seeing chief technology officers reporting productivity gains of maybe 20% to 500% in developing and writing in code, which is a pretty significant activity for most software start—ups. we are also seeing activities such as people using ai to deliver very, very personalised customer experiences. imagine if you can use an ai tool to try and look at all of your customer experiences, all the dates and interactions you've had in the past, and deliver very, very personalised experiences for those customers, to give them exactly what they want and when they want it.

that could be key. that was venture capitalist and founding partner of oxford capital, david mott. lunar new year is almost upon us, and the appetite for boozy gatherings appears to be on the rise. beverage brand diageo is a major distributor of gin, whiskey, and other spirits. their asia—pacific chief, john 0'keefe, spoke about how asia is contributing to growth for the spirits conglomerate. 0ur our business in asia is about 18% of our total global sales, so pretty important. i would say the big drivers of growth underneath that, i would have to start with india, first of all. india is a phenomenal market. it's the biggest whiskey market in the world. in fact, it's probably one of the few markets where the whiskey

category is bigger than the beer category. within that, we are seeing premiumisation — a lot of people moving up the price ladder — which is driven by the emerging middle class. i would also point to southeast asia, markets like indonesia, malaysia, vietnam — a very luxury—centred business where scotch is very vibrant. and then i would point to china. the biggest market in the world. it is three times the size of the north american spirits market. 97% of it is chinese spirits. baijiu — chinese whiskey spirit. we are the only business involved with that and we have an exciting business with johnny walker on the side.

particularly in europe we are seeing an emergence of an exciting non—alcoholic category. we just launched tanqueray 0.0 gin, captain morgan 0.0 alcohol rum. it is a very successful thing, too, non—alcoholic offerings. 0ccasions, mid week, consumers might want an adult beverage choice, but they are at a party to want to feel sophisticated, so having a non—alcoholic but great tasting cocktail. so we very much see that as an opportunity that we can tap in and leverage. i was running our business in africa for the last seven years and we felt increased shortages of crops and therefore we had to adapt our brewing processes to take on different types of crops depending on what was available or not. so we had to have different flexibility. if i swing from the supply side to the consumer side, you know, we — we do know it is increasingly important, particularly for the luxury consumer that, you know, we have sustainability right at the heart of our brands. and so, if i take guinness, you know, one of the most

premium beer brands in the world, regenerative agriculture is really important, and the fact that we can demonstrate to our consumers that, you know, guinness is doing everything possible to be as green as possible, in an authentic way. that is something that is foremost in our minds. you may have heard about rohan bopanna partner who at the age of 43 has reached a milestone, becoming the oldest double champion in the world. we have been speaking about the perseverance that have led him to success. he had this advice. i would say to really focus on short—term goals, even though you have a long—term goal, break it into short—term goals. that's when you start not losing focus. you may tomorrow want to own your own company, but to get to that, there are small goals and

journeys. it should be a personal goal. it should not be someone else�*s goal you are trying to fulfil. that is a key factor there. in australian open this year, my first and foremost goal was to pass the third round. i had never, never passed the third round in the however many years i had played. i said that is my first goal. yes, of course, i would love to win it, but my first goal was to do that. you are somebody who has exclusively played doubles so you have a unique understanding of what makes partnerships successful. yeah. what is it that makes partnerships successful? very simple. communication makes a great partnership. there is — there is no question on it. no matter how difficult the situation is, byjust assuming what the other person is thinking, it does not work. however difficult the communication could be, when that communication happens, it builds a real strength in the communication and then no matter what hurdle comes your way you can channel it.

indian tennis player from rohan bopanna. that is it for us on this addition on asia business report. an adult passes the earth to the child — responsibility for looking after the planet passes to the next generation. that is the message of this animation based on a drawing by 11—year—old isobel from york. i feel it is very important because you only have one earth and you have to look after it. i decided to draw two people that thought they were alone and then if you look behind the people, you see loads of people walking behind them. like, going to help them. isobel and viv, eight, were among 15,000 children from 14 countries who all drew pictures

for the draw with denmark project, originating in the danish city of viborg, one of unesco's creative cities, along with york. the project's theme is "green together" — partnerships for a sustainable future. for more stories across the uk, head to the bbc news website. bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. ,., , , .,

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hello and welcome to sportsday. the headlines. it's advantage arsenal as the gunners strike a blow in the title race, beating liverpool at emirates stadium. england needs another famous fightback if they are to pull off another astonishing victory against india — they're 332 runs behind. rugby�*s first superstar, barryjohn, passes away — a legend for wales and the lions — he was 79. hello and welcome to the programme. we'll start with the english premier league, where the title race has become even more interesting, after arsenal cut the gap to two points at the top of the table, as they beat liverpool 3—1

at emirates stadium. bukayo saka opened the scoring for arsenal after ia minutes, and they did look comfortable until gabriel scored an own—goal in added time at the end of the first half. arsenal re—took the lead, thanks to a defensive mix—up between virgil van dijk and alisson which allowed gabriel martinelli to score. liverpool had ibrahima konate sent off in the closing minutes and then leandro trossard completed the victory. the win moves arsenal up to second place in the table. manchester city, though, could overtake them when they visit brentford on monday evening. i've been very happy, but it was a huge game, it was a game that was going to dictate a little bit where we are, and where are going to be. it is an opponent that demands the best out of you, and the best out of every individual and demanding the best atmosphere to have the best chance to win. and we have replicated that with the players and what they produced out there was just phenomenal. so when they play with that intensity, i have to put

everything that i have and i have to put my energy