of his asia tour. the pair will discuss, among other things, how to deal with the growing threat from north korea. while injapan, he said 20 years of international efforts to rein in pyongyang have failed. china has declared that islamist separatists in the far west are the greatest threat to the nation's security. the president has promised to build what he calls a great wall of iron. and this video is trending on bbc.com. it is the story of how a bbc team and a number of tourists suffered minor injuries after being caught up in an eruption on mt etna in italy. that's all from me now. and the top story here in the uk: the row escalates between the prime minister and the first minister on the question of another referendum on scottish independence. now on bbc news, all the latest

business news live from singapore. $65 billion, the size of the deal saudi arabia is closing with china. we look at what is in it for both sides. and what will happen to us companies doing business with china trump tru m p follows trump follows through on his if trump follows through on his campaign promises? it is friday, everyone. good morning, asia, hello, world, glad you could join us for this edition of asia business report. i am this edition of asia business report. iam rico this edition of asia business report. i am rico hizon. this edition of asia business report. iam rico hizon. we this edition of asia business report. i am rico hizon. we start off with saudi arabia's king salman, he is visiting beijing and hasn't empty—handed. the world's come empty—handed. the world's largest oil—producing state has signed deals worth up to $65 billion

to cement ties to the world's second largest economy. that is a significant amount but where is the money going to? that is a question i posed earlier to an analyst. it is a big number indeed, but there are no details behind it. what we do know is that a lot of that was letters of intent, mous, a sickly are very understanding. very preliminary understanding. very preliminary understanding. very preliminary deals. we don't know if all of them will pan out. i think what the underlying message here is, the bigger one, is that saudi arabia ehé e‘ééfi sag i§¥h§§5§1§¥§§é eee e'eeee eee ie eree eeeejeeeeje-‘ei money eee eieeee eee ie eeee eeeejeeeee-‘ei money to eee eieeee eee ie eeee eeeejeeeee-‘ei money to invest eee eieeee eee ie eeee eelaeie‘eeeeje money to invest in this region. has money to invest in this region; low oil prices, now hovering despite low oil prices, now hovering at $50 a barrel? yes, so they have been struggling as well. we have seen bonds issued by the saudi government but relatively they still have deep pockets and i think it is very important for them to cement their relationship with really important crude customers in this pa rt important crude customers in this part of the world. but when do you think will these so—called letters we.- ii 9.5222 25.4255? ieee — — of intent, these agreements, come to fruition, if - yes, that is very

fruition, if ever? yes, that is very difficult to - but fruition, if ever? yes, that is very difficult to- but i think fruition, if ever? yes, that is very difficult to - but i think what difficult to see. but i think what is very obvious is that it is a very natural, important relationship between the world's biggest crude exporter and now china as the world's biggest crude importer. now chinese demand is not going to continue growing as strongly as it has in the past decade but this relationship as . evolve from being relationship as to evolve from being just a crude supplier, saudi arabia now want to get into refining, petrochemicals, both at home and abroad and certainly in asia. as the us secretary of state prepares to arrive in this us secretary of state prepares to arrive in - this weekend, the arrive in beijing this weekend, the prospect of a trade war between the world's two largest economies is lingering. but any move by washington to increase tax on eeeeeeeeee ee eeeeeee eeea to try to protect us jobs imports to try to protect us jobs would almost certainly mean retaliation from beijing. us companies sell just about retaliation from beijing. us companies selljust about everything to china, from cars to fruit. a

shanghai correspondent has more. best robbery, fresh, sweet, and maybe the next weapon in a transpacific trade war. —— the strawberry. china's ever expanding middle—class love fresh fruit, so much so that us firms like driscolls have set up to grow in china. there is also a place for its california strawberries. they will be flown in and they will be pricey. china adds 1496 and they will be pricey. china adds 14% on fresh strawberries from the us. the prospect of a hike any time soon could squash sales. certainly we would be concerned from the standpoint of how our