prices continue to drop in china. what does it say about the state of the world's second largest economy? plus — disney's cost cutting strategy pays off. the house of mouse unveils its quarterly results and the biggest move yet in the gaming sector. hello and welcome to asia business report. we begin in china where prices have continued to fall for the fourth month injanuary. the consumer price index dropped to 0.8% last month from a year earlier. producer prices also slipped 2.5%. earlier i discussed the risks of economic weakness in china with asia specialist olivier d'assier and he told me the latest price data from the world's second largest economy is looking rather grim. i think they're much worse than expected, right. so almost twice as bad as expected and probably explains why we have

some trading restrictions put on the market three days ago. we had a situation already where sentiment has been weakening since about mid—january on the lack of stimulus measures by the government. so after the last inflation numbers, so we could have an overreaction, but then again the trading restrictions being what they are right now it's very hard to play out the numbers especially with ten days of holidays coming up after tomorrow.— days of holidays coming up after tomorrow. , ., ., after tomorrow. yes. so what do ou think after tomorrow. yes. so what do you think the _ after tomorrow. yes. so what do you think the reaction _ after tomorrow. yes. so what do you think the reaction from - after tomorrow. yes. so what do you think the reaction from the l you think the reaction from the chinese government is going to be then to these numbers that are worst—than—expected? i think because of the holiday period, they may be buying themselves a few days to think about what to do. it's really a demand side issue with them. as we saw with the alibaba earnings, people don't have the confidence right now to spend or take on debt. all of the measures we have seen so far have targeted the supply side, increasing loans, increasing liquidity. these are not enough. investors want to see

somejob creation enough. investors want to see some job creation type of investments, some reduction in some of the — maybe the bureaucracy that prevents people from launching new business from innovating, all of this needs to come out and a lot more spending, the spending has been maybe a 10th of what people expected. so they want to see a lot more fiscal spending as well. to see a lot more fiscal sendin: as well. . ., ., spending as well. yeah, and to imrove spending as well. yeah, and to improve on _ spending as well. yeah, and to improve on the _ spending as well. yeah, and to improve on the demand - spending as well. yeah, and to improve on the demand side i spending as well. yeah, and to improve on the demand side it| improve on the demand side it really almost comes down to a question of confidence and how other people in china are confident about their livelihoods and lives getting better. how do you think the government is going to be able to address those concerns? these are very big concerning right, because in the past, people have been able to generate wealth either through the stock market or through property speculation or by getting higher university degrees and none of these are working right now. the stock market is down for the fourth year now. property markets are down since 2021. and we have all these graduates who can't find job or have to settle for blue collared jobs and gone back home to stay with mum and dad. so mum and dad savings are

used again to pay for the children. so this is a very big problem and geopolitics is also a headwind for china right now. so the government really needs to find ways to stimulate domestic demand by investing in ways that will get people job and reboot confidence in the economy for the longer—term. and where do you see there being room for optimism going forward? , ., , , . forward? obviously the tech side of the _ forward? obviously the tech side of the industry - forward? obviously the tech side of the industry is - side of the industry is something that china must bet on. i mean, we're going — for technology answers to a lot of very big problems — climate change and other things like that. we need to really make an impact there. china has the brains and has the people and has the money to solve these problems from a technology angle, but wejust problems from a technology angle, but we just need to see more investments and less crackdown. more investments and less crackdown-— more investments and less crackdown. speaking of tech companies _ crackdown. speaking of tech companies in _ crackdown. speaking of tech companies in china, - crackdown. speaking of tech companies in china, let's . crackdown. speaking of tech i companies in china, let's focus on an e—commerce giant alibaba which has published disappointing quarterly results. the company posted sales of $36.7 billion up 5%

year on year, but below analyst expectations. alibaba's executives announced they'll increase the group's share buyback programme by $25 billion in a move they say demonstrates confidence in the company's outlook. but as we have been discussing, alibaba is facing slowing economy in china as well as fierce competition from rivals such as jd.com, pinduoduo and douyin. earlier i spoke to china tech analyst and creator of tech buzz china rae ma and she told me more about why alibaba has been struggling. it me more about why alibaba has been struggling.— been struggling. it did not crow been struggling. it did not grow even _ been struggling. it did not grow even as _ been struggling. it did not grow even as fast - been struggling. it did not grow even as fast of - been struggling. it did not grow even as fast of the i been struggling. it did not - grow even as fast of the market because last year china grew about 11%, that's according to official estimates but the company itself did not and really it's — investor response is partly because the recovery has not been as great as some have expected. although to others it's been better. it's really because of the competition. so pinduoduo is

one of the most aggressive competitors that it faces in its core business. of course it's still less than half of alibaba's business, but it's been growing very quickly in third quarter it grew nearly 100% versus alibaba's 9%. douyin, of course, leader in live streaming e—commerce, a business model alibaba actually business model aliba ba actually pioneered business model alibaba actually pioneered but douyin has taken over as a leader and it's encroaching on pinduoduo's gmv as dwell. ., . ., as dwell. e-commerce a competitive _ as dwell. e-commerce a competitive space - as dwell. e-commerce a competitive space in - as dwell. e-commerce a i competitive space in china as dwell. e-commerce a - competitive space in china and increasingly a part of the daily fabric as well. but it's still way down by slower economy, isn't it? that's correct- _ economy, isn't it? that's correct. although - economy, isn't it? that's correct. although i- economy, isn't it? that's correct. although i think| economy, isn't it? that's- correct. although i think that — despite the fact that — you know, economy relatively speaking is in a — has seen better days if you look at the expectations for online retail over the next three years, this is a ginormous market. china is

almost $3 trillion, online e—commerce, and expectations the next few years is still going to grow at 8% and for a market of that size, that's still significant. market of that size, that's stillsignificant. so market of that size, that's still significant. so by 2027, you know, professionals, experts, are expecting that it will be a $4 trillion market. from an e—commerce giant to an entertainment giant. disney says — it has reported that it's beat estimates sending its shares soaring more than 6% in after—hours trading. the company also unveiled what is its biggest bet to day in the gaming industry. our correspondent has more from new york. disney says it's on pace to bring in more money this fiscal year and it expects earnings at least 20% higher than last year. and the company says it's on pace to cut costs. it expects to meet or surpass its goal of cutting $7.5 billion by the end of this fiscal year. the news comes as pressure mounts from an activist investor who has been critical of the company including its

disappointing stats at the box office. the company also narrowed its losses specifically in streaming. disney plus increased prices this fall. the loss of subscribers over that but because each subscriber is paying more few for the service, the average revenue per user went up. disney plus streaming offererings including espn+, a focus of a lot of attention this week. the company announced earlier this week that it's partnering with fox and warner bros discovery to launch a new sports streaming operation with espn+ this year. and the ceo said the company is taking a $1.5 billion stake in epic games. it's disney's biggest move in the game space yet. another focus of attention — disney and politics again — after a very public multi—year spat with and law suit against florida governor ron desantis who accused the company of being liberal and progressive. actor gina caramo is suing the company and alleging she was fired from the mandalorian for posting conservative points of view online including on the

social media platform x. elon musk has said he'd throw his billions behind x users who claim discrimination at work due to their posts. he's backing caramo's law suit. and one more piece of disney news this week — it turns out that disney quietly had a hand in the launch of apple's vision pro—headset which just hit stores. customers who shell out $3500 for the headset can watch some of their favourite disney movies in 3d or in a handful of universes that disney created. the ceo of says russia's invasion of ukraine in 2022 has shown that the energy — that energy security needs to be top of the agenda. the largest investor in the rosebank oilfield in the north sea, the uk's largest new oil and gas field development in decades. speaking to the bbc�*s business editor, he defended the investment saying every country needs to look at sourcing energy closer to home. one of

the key learnings _ energy closer to home. one of the key [earnings from - energy closer to home. one of the key [earnings from 2022 i energy closer to home. one of the key [earnings from 2022 is j the key learnings from 2022 is that energy security needs to be on top of the agenda together with affordability and sustainability. and each country need to, i think, looking harder into making sure that there are producing the energy they need closer to home, you know, etc, and that's really what we're working on making sure we are able to supply europe and uk with gas and oil, you know, these days and oil, you know, these days and for decades to come. find and for decades to come. and et if and for decades to come. and yet if you _ and for decades to come. and yet if you look— and for decades to come. and yet if you look at _ and for decades to come. and yet if you look at the - and for decades to come. and yet if you look at the energy agency, they say any new oil and gas fields are inconsistent with the target of 1.5 degrees temperature rise. is he wrong? he says there should be no new oil and gas fields, the and the day after you said you were going to develop rosebridge in the north sea. is that a collision course with climate disaster? ~ collision course with climate disaster?— collision course with climate disaster? . ., ., . disaster? we have a balanced view on this. _ disaster? we have a balanced view on this. we _ disaster? we have a balanced view on this. we think- disaster? we have a balanced view on this. we think we - disaster? we have a balanced. view on this. we think we need to continue developing oil and

gas while we are increasing our investments in renewables an that's exactly what we do here in uk. we invest in rosebank, but also invest in the third largest offshore wind park and also energy decarbonised energy. the world will need oil and gas for longer while we're doing the energy transition. before we go, shares in semi—conductor chip designer arm holdings are nearly 20% higher in after—hours trading. they forecast fiscal fourth quarter sales and adjusted profit above wall street expectations as customer aim to design new chips for artificial intelligence work. that's it for this edition of asia business report. bye for now. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk.

anna borrowed £1,000 from a loan shark when she left home at 17 without any financial support. what were the difficulties in paying it back? always struggling. always having to ask to lend. always looking for places where you could go and borrow. just to keep a roof over your head. put food on the table because you don't want to fall behind on their payments. you come down for us? this operation by the illegal money lending team with cheshire police led to the arrest of a 63—year—old woman. i need to inform you that you're under arrest for illegal money lending and for money laundering. one in five of the people we arrested last year was female, and it's not unusual for them to be of retirement age as well. and people think, well, there's no threats. if there's a 70 odd—year—old woman, what's the threat? quite often it's a lot subtler than "i'll break your legs," which is what people think about when it comes to loan sharks. the way illegal moneylenders operate has also changed. last year, 39% of cases that we dealt with had a social media element, which was either the meeting, the loan shark

on social media or communication being through social media. and we're seeing loan sharks who advertise even on things like snapchat, maybe paying an influencer to recommend them and then they have a reach of all over the country. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. i'm with the capture. tonight, threatens to suement loyal fans carp out for the 1975. and graffiti on luxury flats. first — we start with everyone's favourite place — the dentist. the government is planning to try and decrease the waiting list for a dentist appointment in england with a cash incentive. dentists who set up practises in areas of england with poor access to nhs care will be offered a £20,000 bonus. the government has also announced higher payments for

nhs dentists who take on new patients and teeth—cleaning in schools as part of a plan to expand levels of dental care, but dental leaders and labour say the plans don't go far enough. some other stories now. taylor swift has threatened to sue a student who tracks her private jet. her lawyers sayjack jet. her lawyers say jack sweeney shouldn't jet. her lawyers sayjack sweeney shouldn't be jet. her lawyers say jack sweeney shouldn't be sharing her flight information online. jack uses publicly—available data to track the take—offs and landings of planes belonging to celebs and post them online a day later. jack has responded and said, "no way do i intend for harm." and what lengths would you go to see your favourite top star. 1975 fans are spending two nights camping outside the glasgow in the freezing cold in the hope of being in the front row of the bands's next gig. one dedicated fan even travelled all the way from australia. and time now to leave you with ten seconds of

graffiti covering luxury highrise flats in la. 27 floors of this highrise complex were covered with it. the site has been abandoned since 2019. just imagine though if you wanted to buy one or what if you already owned one? it might be a little bit tricky to live in it. you're all caught up now. see you later. i want to talk to you about the politics — i want to talk to you about the politics of _ i want to talk to you about the politics of this. did she not think— politics of this. did she not think she _ politics of this. did she not think she was going to get that question? it�*s think she was going to get that cuestion? �*, ,., ., ., question? it's important to remember _ question? it's important to remember that _ question? it's important to remember that this - question? it's important to remember that this is - question? it's important to remember that this is a - remember that this is a negotiation. _ remember that this is a negotiation.— remember that this is a neuotiation. �*, ., , ., ., negotiation. it's a good photo i have negotiation. it's a good photo i have an _ negotiation. it's a good photo i have an opportunity - negotiation. it's a good photo i have an opportunity to - negotiation. it's a good photo| i have an opportunity to create chaos — i have an opportunity to create chaos. �* , ., ._ , i have an opportunity to create chaos. �*, . , ., ., chaos. there's always an email, we are so _ chaos. there's always an email, we are so insignificant - chaos. there's always an email, we are so insignificant in - chaos. there's always an email, we are so insignificant in this i we are so insignificant in this cosmos _ we are so insignificant in this cosmos. do you want some facts on baguettes. i'mjust cosmos. do you want some facts on baguettes. i'm just feeding you the — on baguettes. i'm just feeding you the stories. on baguettes. i'm 'ust feeding you the stories._ you the stories. maybe this is the context. _

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm jane dougall. huge celebrations as nigeria go through to the final of the africa cup of nations where they'll play the hosts ivory coast. a wonder goal from enzo fernandez puts the icing on the cake for chelsea as they win away at villa in the fa cup. and it's heating up in the usa with footballs' showcase game, the super bowl, just around the corner. welcome to the programme. it's been a battle for them, but nigeria are through to the final of the africa cup of nations where they'll play the hosts, ivory coast.

nigeria's match was filled with drama, going to extra time