this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. china hosts the bosses of global trade as its dispute with the us continues to cause international concern. as the us goes to the polls, we'll find out what role tariffs play in the midterms. and on the markets... american market is ended higher but it isa american market is ended higher but it is a mixed picture emerging in asia as investors watch closely what happens in the us. the great and the good of global trade are in beijing today, meeting chinese prime minister li keqiang. the visit by bosses of the world trade organisation, international monetary fund and world bank comes as china's trade war with the us continues to cause widespread concern. china is keen to convince the world

that it is open for business, and that it really does play fair. earlier this month it cut import tariffs on more than 1500 goods, including metals, wood and even gemstones. but the reductions were fairly meagre, less than 3% on average. but even if progress on liberalisation seems slow, firms are investing more and more money in the country. last year there was $136 billion in foreign direct investment. one of those investing is tesla, which last month spent $140 million buying land in shanghai, for its first factory outside the us with reports it could spend as much as $5 billion on the new plant. that is just one example of a

company investing significantly in china. shanti kelemen, director of wealth & investment management at coutts joins me now. china very much setting out its stall this week with a global audience, saying we are open for business despite the trade war between china and the united states. china has1.3 between china and the united states. china has 1.3 billion people, 900 million internet users and the reason you see companies investing in china is that they want access to date huge domestic market and all of those people that are buying cars, sending their kids to school, healthcare. when these carrots started to kick m, when these carrots started to kick in, it is difficult for companies to change their behaviour? the computer and electronics, a lot of the

factories will be set up, specialise to meet certain specifications, to fit into a telephone, computer and companies can change supplier chant: cannot do it overnight. -- supply chain. not any big impact yet. no, it has widened a little bit since the tariffs were introduced. they need an opening of services trade with china and there has not been any move on that and companies are not had time to rearrange that. lot of the strong language and rhetoric from donald trump, the threats about future tariffs, was in the run—up to the midterms. we will have results tomorrow. will we see a more conciliatory tone in now? the

trade war and rhetoric plays quite well in parts of america where they have had manufacturing job losses. it isa have had manufacturing job losses. it is a good election issue. 0nce thatis it is a good election issue. 0nce that is over, he might look towards keeping markets happy. markets have been one of the main areas with a negative reaction to the trade war. there may be a meeting between donald trump and president xi and they might be an opener. —— that. the trade war between the china and the us has also been the focus of a major economic forum going on in singapore. sharanjit leyl is there for us. what have delegates been saying to you? there are a lot of people saying a lot of things. some 400 government and business leaders have

gathered in singapore. henry kissinger, the former new york mayor, it is his event, he is company has put this event together. the chinese vice president was a key speaker and he said that china is willing to speak to the us to find a resolution to the trade row everyone is talking about. xi jinping spoke yesterday at the china international import expo and he reiterated what we heard xijinping say, that china isa we heard xijinping say, that china is a champion of globalisation and free trade and crucially he said they are committed to opening up their market. but to hear from two of china's top rows in two days suggests one thing, that they are immensely worried about this trade row. many of the trade partners are

worried also. chief amongst them australia. i spoke to the former prime minister of australia and he had this to say. the key thing, in all of our engagements with beijing and washington, is to be able to say to both of them, quite directly, political leaders, business leaders, think tank is, that it is possible to carve a rational way through this and secondly it can be done if the us agrees in turn on what outcome it actually wants. i think the responsibility for all of us is to say the reason global economy at sta ke say the reason global economy at stake here, and that the reason a rational way to go through it. —— varies. kevin rudd now runs the asian institute. now let's brief you on some other business stories: eurozone finance ministers are piling on the pressure for italy to change its spending plans. the ministers ended a late night meeting in brussels by backing demands from the european commission

for rome to submit a revised budget by november 13th. italian leaders say their plans are affordable, and that they won't back down. lego has won a new intellectual property case in china, after a court agreed that four local companies had illegally copied its building blocks and miniature figures. the guangzhou district court ruled that the firms should immediately cease the production, sale and promotion of the toys and pay compensation. lego won two similar cases last year. americans go to the polls later today in one of the most competitive midterm elections in years. it's being seen as a referendum on president donald trump. one of the states with a tight senate race is indiana, which is the biggest steel making state in america. it's also the country's fifth largest producer of soybeans. they're the two biggest industries that have been caught up in the trade dispute with china and other countries. kim gittleson went there to find out what role it's playing in the race and the answer

might surprise you. hey there, sir, didn't mean to disturb you... for the past few weeks derek morris has been going door—to—door to convince his fellow steel workers to vote for labour—friendly candidates. he's talked about health care and outsourcing, but one subject has been complicated — tariffs. it is helping some in the steel industry but it's hurting the farmers so, you help us but you hurt them and, at the end of the day, it is not abou substance. at the end of the day, it is not about substance. he's not the only one struggling to figure out where trade fits in this particular election battle. phil ramsey has been a farmer his entire life but, this year, he's only sold half his soy harvest after demand dried up due to a trade war between the us and china. it has affected all of us financially, at least, at this point. i have not sold everything yet. so there is still time for the prizes to go back up. a farmer is always optimistic.

although indiana is heavily reliant on agriculture and manufacturing, tariffs have yet to really be felt here economically. which is why voters have chosen to focus on other issues. i don't think tariffs are going to have much to do with voters' decisions, one way or another. maybe 1% will even think about tariffs. they're going to be thinking more about immigration, they're going to be thinking more about certain of those hot button social issues. that has meant that most here have turned their attention instead to how they feel about the president, with some queueing hours just to se president trump speak in support of the republican candidate for senate. are tariffs something you care about? tariffs? not really. i think he's got the right idea about that. thankfully, i'm not in a situation where most of that stuff effects me. i don't think it comes up generally. but i think the president is doing the right thing. as with most close races across the us, president trump

is at the centre of the election here, but it is not because of his impact on the state's main industries. with the booming economy blunting the pain from tariffs, here in indiana this mid—term election fight has become more of a referendum on president trump's personality as opposed to his policies. kim gittleson, bbc news, indianapolis. that's it for the business briefing this hour. a bbc investigation has found that1 in 11 radiographer posts in the nhs is vacant and could be a key cause of delays in patients receiving tests and scans to diagnose conditions such as cancer. more than a million people across the uk are waiting for

an nhs test or scan. 0ur health correspondent, nick triggle, reports. there are more than 1 million patients waiting for an nhs test will scamper across the uk. these are meant to be done in a matter of weeks to diagnose conditions such as cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis at multiple numbers of patients are facing delays of several months. in england, waiting more than six weeks the numbers has risen to 20,000. the performance in scotla nd risen to 20,000. the performance in scotland and northern ireland is even worse with only wales seeing an improvement. figures obtained by the bbc suggests a shortage of radiographers who carry out scans and ultrasound is a key cause. in total, 124 and each is trusts and

board responded to the request for information. they show them all than 40,000 posts funded but that one in 11 were on field at the start of this financial year. all radiographersjoin the this financial year. all radiographers join the profession and go to work every day to give the best possible service and when there are vacancies and extra pressure in the system, it is felt by everyone. 0ur the system, it is felt by everyone. our members are working harder, extra shifts but there is only so much you can get a limited number of people to do. the department of health said steps had been taken to recruitment staff and invest in new technology and equipment. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: campaigning draws to a close, ahead of the us mid—term elections, which could dramatically affect

president trump's ability to govern. a major search operation's underway to find 79 children kidnapped from a boarding school in north—west cameroon. china's prime minister meets global trade leaders, as his country's dispute with the us continues to cause widespread concern. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with politico, it's in mid—terms mode. it reports on what it calls a staggering turnout for the us elections and whether that favours the democrats or republicans. on to the south china morning post and it looks at president xi jinping's efforts to bolster trade relations. 172 countries have attended a big expo in beijing. on to the australian edition of the guardian,

and it explains why virgin in australia has made a u—turn on privileges for military veterans on its flights. the usa today among many covering an announcement from the un. it calls it good news for the environment as scientists say holes in the ozone layer could be healed in a few decades. and finally, the i news with a story in the uk. as the big brother show ends for the final time, it looks back at how it kickstarted reality tv and changed fame and celebrity. in case you want to what it, we will not mention who has won. with me is andrew tuck, editor of monocle, a global news and business magazine. it is good to have you back. let's talk about politico, interesting read, the staggering number of people who will turn out to vote and

make their decision, make their voice heard in these mid—term elections. yes, not the numbers you get ina elections. yes, not the numbers you get in a presidential election but they are saying roughly 45% of the people who could vote in an election are going to turn out and that is up about 30 million on last time there we re about 30 million on last time there were mid—term elections, so all of the pollsters have been having to hedge their bets a little bit because they were working on a lower number, now they are trying to work out what it means if so many people turn out. it has transformed expectations in terms of what the results might be, so those who are in the business of predicting are having to rethink