beyond 100 days. good to happen. beyond 100 days. helping you make sense of it all. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the headlines: do europe's corporate giants need protecting from foreign takeovers? that's the question facing eu ministers meeting in bulgaria. china's tech giant huawei tells the bbc it's being barred from the us market for purely commercial reasons — and that security concerns are "rubbish". in asia most share markets are continuing to climb after us shares reached a four—week high. investors are betting us interest rate hikes won't be too aggressive. does europe need to do more to protect itself

from foreign takeovers? across the european union it's an issue of growing concern — with eu trade ministers meeting today to discuss the latest developments. foreign direct invesment into the eu — that's when companies invest their money in foreign countries came in at $370 billion last year. not all of it is considered uncontroversial. president of the european commission jean—claude juncker said in september "europe must always defend its strategic interests" such as technology, defence and infrastructure. one of the biggest deals to spark concerns was the 2016 purchase of kuka — germany's largest maker of industrial robotics — by china's midea for 5.5 billion dollars. and there is particular concern about companies linked to foreign governments. as china looks increasingly overseas at technology and manufacturing interests, its investors

spent a record 43 billion on eu purchases in 2016. that's almost double the previous year. just yesterday germany's financial regulator said it would look into the $9 billion worth of shares bought in the car—maker daimler — which owns mercedes — by china's geely. with me is bronwyn curtis, chair of the society of business economists. afamiliar a familiarface. a familiar face. good to see you again. give as your take on the situation. of course, china has been looking for years at good assets in europe. and of course we welcome peak investment but to a degree, whether we draw the line? there's been a lot of money coming out of china. that has been the biggest concern. notjust into europe. it is worldwide. we have already seen the

us saying, we're not sure that you wa nt us saying, we're not sure that you want some of this money. i think it is to protect security technology and so on. we saw that geely buying into daimler. they already bought into daimler. they already bought into volvo. they have done very well with that. germany is leading this pushback and they have put in some draft legislation that they are going to discuss. emanuel is supporting it just to going to discuss. emanuel is supporting itjust to be able to say, —— macron is supporting this. just to say that these companies can't come in and take over all of oui’ can't come in and take over all of our technology. germany has lots of middle sized private companies who have done very well. i don't think germany wants to lose hold of that industrial base. and also the industrial base. and also the industrial base, the car industry is extremely important, pivotal to its own economy. you get to the point

where you figure out, what is it you need to protect and what is out there, forforeign need to protect and what is out there, for foreign investment need to protect and what is out there, forforeign investment or foreign takeovers? that's right. there's so much money coming. if you think, in germany, in 2010, only about 100 million euros came in for foreign investment from china. now it is up at 13 billion, whatever they can measure but 13 billion euros was the number for last year that they could measure. it is big, chunky stuff, and that is a worry because you do want to keep control of your own industry if you can. we have also seen, of course, that unilever, looking to move to rotterdam, probably where they have beenin rotterdam, probably where they have been in the uk as well as amsterdam, because, of course, takeovers are much more difficult there than they

are here. very interesting how all of the pawns are being moved, the chess pieces, prior to march 2019. thank you very much for coming in and giving is your take on that story. we would love to hear your views, the hash tag is my credit you wa nt to views, the hash tag is my credit you want to get in touch. —— the hash tag is #bbcthebriefing, if you want to get in touch. now let's brief you some other business stories. the uk's minister for international trade is set to argue that any form of customs union with the eu after brexit would be a complete sell out. liam fox is expected to say having eu limits on doing other deals would make the uk less attractive. the labour party argues such an outcome would help business by securing tariff—free trade. the us will overtake russia as the world's biggest oil producer by 2019 at the latest. that's according to the international energy agency. it says rising shale production helped the us to overtake saudi arabia last year. us oil is increasingly being exported — including to asia — eating away at opec and russian market share.

south africa's former finance minister nhlanhla nene has been re—appointed to the post by the country's new president, cyril ramaphosa. mr nene was controversially sacked two years ago. in a wide—ranging reshuffle, the new president has ousted several former allies of jacob zuma. he's called it a new dawn for the country. one of china's top economic advisors arrives in the us later today to try and smooth tensions between the two countries over trade. rico hizonjoins us now from our asia business hub in singapore. rico, what type of reception can he expect? it could be quite frosty and pence, because of this ongoing trade battles between the two countries.

discussions will be taking place as presidents cup considers new tariffs on chinese steel imports. the us negotiating panel will be led by trade representative robert liethauzer who is known to be a china pork and us officials want to see more substantial action from china about addressing trade imbalance rather than constant promises of reform from beijing. there will be new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and a possible fine over its intellectual property practices. china is the world's largest steel producer and they could retaliate by making life difficult for us companies operating in china. but mr yu is hoping to

avoid this and that's why he's flown to washington for this key meeting with us trade officials. we will see you again soon and talk about how that visit goes. the us —— us operators have been warned off from stocking, the microphones over claims that the company is too close to the chinese government. but it has claimed that it is independent. we have strong growth every year. so we have a chance to be number one, we have a chance to be number one, we are not far away. you think you could be number one and global smartphones? for sure, we have a chance. one of the problems for that in achieving that there's trying to get into the us market, you are nowhere in it because american

politicians do not trust you. why do you think that is? because some political things try to keep others out but we are competitive, we have leading technology, they worry about that, we are too strong. is that why american politicians want to keep yard, because you are too competitive, or they worry that you are too close to the chinese government? they are trying to say that but actually we are an independent company. these are political things to keep others out. that was at the mobile world congress in barcelona. and now — what's trending in the business news this morning. bloomberg is reporting that the eu will challenge theresa may on wednesday by publishing a draft brexit paper which it says ignores her most important demands. it says the document is likely to exclude proposals from mrs may on how the transitional phase should work.

we will discuss that in detail, and a moment. the ft report that qualcomm has dropped its objections to being taken over by broadcom if it raises it offer to $160bn. the paper says qualcomm is now willing to close the deal — which marks a significant change. business insider reports on how amazon could become a trillion dollar company within the next 18 months. it cites a research analyst who says growing sales, its prime service and its smart speaker — will help to push it through the $1 trillion mark. and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online — standard chartered has reported profits up to $3 billion from last year. that's up on the year before stop this is how the markets are doing in asia, following on from another good day on wall street. see you in a moment. the environment minister,

michael gove, says he wants farmers to do more to protect the countryside under new proposals which will decide how much the industry is subsidised after brexit. currently farmers receive a share of £3 billion a year based on how much land they own, but in a new report published today, defra suggests payments should instead reflect the positive effects farms have on the environment. claire marshall reports. we wa nt we want other people do have the chance... this is michael gove's vision for the future of farming, it gillick countryside and farmers doing their bit for the environment. the hedges planted here have helped to stop flooding. the paper today will see that these are the kinds of farms that should be subsidised. at the moment farmers are paid according to the amount of land they

have. we're not going to give you money simply on the basis that you already have a big estate. we will only give you money if you contribute to the environment, making sure that we have fewer flights, making sure there are habitats for wildlife that the value, making sure that water and rivers are cleaner and that the air is pure. the new president of the national farmers' union believes it should not all be about the environment. michael gove has committed to launching a national food plan, we have been lobbying for that for a long time, we feel that food has been taken for granted for too long, and now is the chance that ta ke too long, and now is the chance that take could seriously. organic farmersjulian take could seriously. organic farmers julian korb take could seriously. organic farmersjulian korb posted mr gove and this is what they said. is more important that we get the trade deal right. but the core business is profitable. the trachea was more important because we have to sell

out important because we have to sell our product. and are still completely up in the air. indeed. the consultation runs from ten weeks —— for ten weeks until the end of may. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines. wintry conditions and storms have hit many parts of europe — with rome experiencing its heaviest snowfall in many years. climate scientists say the unusually cold weather is linked to freak conditions in the arctic. president trump has said he would have run into the florida high school where 17 people were shot dead earlier this month, even if he was not armed. he also criticised the police for not confronting the gunman, saying the way some officers had responded was "a disgrace". the uk's most senior counter—terror officer has revealed four extreme right—wing attack plots were foiled last year. assistant commissioner mark rowley — who retires next month — described the threat from far—right terrorism as "organised" and "significant". now it is time look at the stories

that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the telegraph which says the eu is threatening uk prime minister theresa may's brexit plan by warning that northern ireland must sign up to brussels rules and regulations if britain wishes to leave the customs union and single market. and on the front of the ft is uk labour leaderjeremy corbyn who has backed britain remaining in the eu customs union. the ft adds that pro—eu rebels in the conservative party said they would work with labour to force a retreat by theresa may on her vision for brexit. meanwhile the independent focuses on uk business leaders who have also thrown their weight behind jeremy corbyn's announcement that a labour government would seek to keep the uk in a customs union

with the european union. in other news the new york times looks at how french administrators are pushing the country's border thousands of miles into africa, hoping to head off would—be migrants. those who want to live in france will have to be approved in niger first and then the government will supply an air ticket to travel to france. and finally, the evening standard shows that some londoners like this penguin are quite enjoying the freezing temperatures the snow and icy conditions which are set to continue for the rest of the week throughout the uk and europe. with me is iain anderson, who's founder of the international communications agency, cicero group. welcome back. you have been in need deepin welcome back. you have been in need deep in brexit since i