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with britain within the next six to eight weeks. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. are ina are in a slump, is the trump right to say it that he is winning a —— china ina to say it that he is winning a —— china in a slum. jack ma and out as his succession plan, will speak to an author who has earned him from the start, what his retirement means for alibaba. the start, what his retirement means foralibaba. —— the start, what his retirement means for alibaba. —— known the start, what his retirement means foralibaba. —— known him. the start, what his retirement means for alibaba. —— known him. welcome to asia business report. we begin with the us china trade war because the shanghai stock it strange has lost nearly a quarter of its value in the last six months. meanwhile, the s&p 500 is nearing a fresh record. donald trump says it means

he has an upper hand in his fight, but is that true? data released over the weekend showed that china's trade surplus with the us rise in august with shares in china and hong kong declining further and that followed president trump's comments that he is ready to impose further ta riffs that he is ready to impose further tariffs on an additional $267 billion worth of chinese goods. i asked rock silvers what it will take to reverse that trend. —— brock. chinese markets are one of the worst performing in the world this year and is negative sentiment is u nfortu nately and is negative sentiment is unfortunately probably here to stay for a bit. the economy looks quite soft, it is slowing in down investment has slowed as well. the trade war with the us doesn't show any signs of abating and i think some of that impact has really yet to be felt. the currency is weakening and will be weaker still without government controls, and

without government controls, and with the us federal reserve looking to raise rates this month and probably again in december that can only reignite pressures that. even as you say, a wage “— only reignite pressures that. even as you say, a wage —— a larger trade surplus which is taken as good news, is bad news. to be honest, i think chinese equity markets might be even lower right now were it not for government intervention. that negative sentiment is set in stone until we see some movement on trade. let's ta ke until we see some movement on trade. let's take a look some of that government intervention that we have seen because we have seen beijing announcing measures to support some of those businesses that are hit, some of them getting rebates of. will this help cushion some of the impact of the trade tariffs that are currently enforced and those to come? it is a bit like the ministry of finance using a finger to plug a hole in a dyke. it has swollen to 375 billion us dollars and trump has

written to apply tariffs to practically all chinese exports. is isa practically all chinese exports. is is a global phenomenon on, with countries like australia and japan also moving, following the us lead to limit china's technology export. i think china might be moving to end the leveraging and added liquidity, but it will not be enough. china is poorly positioned to win a extended trade war with the us rate now. —— right now. volvo and its chinese owners have postponed plans to float shares, blaming trade tensions and a downturn in automotive. it had reportedly been discussing an ipo to value the carmaker between 16 and $13 billion. 30. they said it was still possible in the future. singapore will return $11 million to malaysia, cash that was linked to the state funded 1mdb. that was the

dozen countries are investigating claims of $4 billion sanction off from the fund which was set up by the former malaysian prime minister. china's most valuable company will have a new leader in a year, i speak of alibaba have a new leader in a year, i speak of aliba ba and have a new leader in a year, i speak of alibaba and this gentleman here, jack ma, he will officially hand the torch to daniel zhang. but will his departure have a much have much impact on their plans to expand outside of the technology space and outside of the technology space and outside of the technology space and outside of china? let's take a look at how it got there in the first place of. we know that in 1999, jack ma and 17 other people created the company in his apartment. four years later date launched the online shopping network. fast forward to 2010, alibaba launched it's first cloud centre. and it started its own financial centre, which is the most

popular payment service. so what is next? from beijing, steve mcdonald reports. jack ma is the face of china's high—tech economy. eccentric, co—founder of aliba ba. known high—tech economy. eccentric, co—founder of alibaba. known for his performances at company mass events. he is one of the world ‘s most wealthy entrepreneur was. now, at the age of 54, he has announced he is stepping down as company chairman ina years is stepping down as company chairman in a years time. there is certainly no one else like him in the chinese business. larger than life and mixing easily with moguls and political leaders. how can both government and larger companies be assisting in creating the kind of climate that encourages young entrepreneurs? government it is simple, just reduce the tax, or no tax for these guys are. current

alibaba ceo daniel tax for these guys are. current aliba ba ceo daniel zhang tax for these guys are. current alibaba ceo daniel zhang will take over as chairman, seen as a safe choice as the architect of the annual singles discount spree, becoming the largest online shopping frenzy on the planet. but in terms of recognition, he has enormous shoes to fill. jack ma is one of the most famous chinese people alive today. the one—time english teacher rode the wave of china's growing middle—class affluence. he has never written a line of computer code, but in the late 1990s along with 18 friends, started what would become the internet shopping giant taobao. then they developed an online payment system, for a country where few people had credit cards. is hard to imagine the chinese business landscape without jack ma, not that he is disappearing altogether. a figure who has come to represent all

thatis figure who has come to represent all that is possible in chinese capitalism says that he will focus on philanthropy and education initiatives. stephen macdonald, bbc news, beijing. we know shares alibaba were down, they and other top firms have been hit with the help of that china's economy and beijing's scrutiny of the sector. i spoke to someone earlier, asking if taobao is the right person for the job. his background is an accountant, but he is credited within alibaba for taking taobao to build this massive consumer platform. who could fill the shoes to some extent. you could probably buy those shoes on alibaba's platform. probably buy those shoes on aliba ba's platform. but probably buy those shoes on alibaba's platform. but he is a safe pairof hands, alibaba's platform. but he is a safe pair of hands, unknown quantity. you have spent time with jack ma, you

met him in 1999 in his small apartment where he started alibaba, grated all kinds of access, what is he like and will alibaba miss his leadership? i think of him as a comedian. to look online and on youtube, you see he is a very funny person in both in wish and chinese. he isa person in both in wish and chinese. he is a performer, a great communicator, a great motivator and he has guts. he did was basically impossible, taking on the giants of silicon valley. as a result, he has this outside appeal in the country asa this outside appeal in the country as a whole. the next question is what is his next act and what is alibaba's act with out him? you will still be there as a key shareholder, so it is not like he is disappearing but the big question will be canned daniel driver vision forward without him on camera all the time? we know that beijing is scrutinising a lot more of these technology companies,

we have got these trade tariffs that have already hit and are due to hit even deeper. so how will this companyfair even deeper. so how will this company fair moving forward? alibaba is still essentially a domestic business for most of its sales. but it has international platforms, not just in the us, it is not all focusing on emerging markets with investments in south east asia, pdm and others in india. it has a rich in latin america are. to some extent, if china is going to be the regal are below is in power in the world as the us gets back, alibaba could benefit from it. have announced this week of launching a russian venture. they are becoming more global and get less us focused and they were not very us focused to start with. flextech a quick look at those markets now. some of them are open. —— lets take a quick look. the all 0rdinaries open. —— lets take a quick look. the all0rdinaries in open. —— lets take a quick look. the all 0rdinaries in australia higher

and the nikkei extending on its gains on monday. also a weaker yen is open to propel those export reliance stocks. really taking their cues from wall street, we saw gains on wall street for the s&p 500 and nasdaq and that is on a little bit of optimism on potential more tax cuts from the trump administration and the dow ending flat. that is it for this edition of asia business report, thank you for watching. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: the white house says the north korean leader, kimjong un, has requested a second meeting with president trump. warnings from the un that a forthcoming offensive on the syrian city of idlib could be the worst humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century. you should have at least two days a week without drinking any alcohol,

that's the latest recommendation from public health england for middle aged drinkers. people aged between 45 and 65 are likely to drink more units of alcohol than they should every week. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. a cold beer or a glass of wine. it is the way many of us choose to unwind at the end of the day. but it is also a habit that middle—aged people in particularfind hard to break. those between 45 and 65 are most likely to drink more than the recommended guidelines of 14 units a week, and struggle to keep track of what they have drunk. it is difficult for everybody. it is difficult for me and i work in that area all the time. so having alcohol—free days is a much easier way of controlling your overall alcohol intake during the week, as well as having immediate benefits for your health and well—being. according to a yougov poll, two thirds of regular drinkers say they find cutting down on alcohol harder than improving diet, exercise, or even stopping smoking.

and one in five people surveyed drank more than the recommended 14 units a week, that is around six glasses of wine, or six pints of beer. and the idea of some alcohol free—days is one that is already being taken up by some in this pub, all of them enjoying soft drinks. i feel more focused, i'm more alert, my skin feels better. usually due to work, i start early in the morning, —— of course, nowadays, drinking takes place not in pubs, but in the home, and when you are drinking at home it is really difficult to keep track ofjust how much alcohol you are getting through, that's why public health england hope that today's message, that you should abstain from alcohol for two or more days a week, will help reduce the harm that is caused by alcohol. for the past decade, sue sullivan, a busy mum of three, has gone alcohol—free for two days a week, now she is trying a sober september, so it is soft drinks all round. you might have a blowout holiday, not exercising enough, not eating the right foods

and you are probably drinking more rose then you should. so it is quite a nice time in september to start resetting those habits. middle—aged people don't tend to drink to get drunk, but more as a social habit. today's message is break that habit and you will soon feel the benefit. dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester. the police canberra —— the police commissioner on the hillsborough tragedy on faces and five counts of manslaughter. —— 25. bash at 95. now on bbc news, sport today. hello, i'm tulsen tollett. this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: justin rose loses the the rain delayed bmw championship in a play—off to keegan bradley but still moves to world number one.

going out in style. alastair cook scores a century in his final test innings for england before his international retirement. and romano fenati could face criminal charges after he grabbed the brake lever of italian compatriot stefano manzi in sunday's moto 2 race in san marino. hello and welcome to the programme, where we begin with the golfing news that reigning 0lympic championjustin rose has moved to world number one despite losing the bmw championship in a play—off to keegan bradley. the pair were level at 20—under after their final round which was held over due to persistent rain on sunday, and watching was paul frostick. heavy rain on sunday meant the final round of the bmw championship had to be completed on monday ——