this is business live from bbc news with victoria fritz and sally bundock. president xi promises a more open china for foreign firms — ahead of a 620 showdown with president trump. live from london, that's our top story on thursday the 29th of november. but can the leaders of the world's two biggest economies really resolve their differences and an end a trade war that's threatening to undermine global growth? also in the programme: us markets rise after the head of the central bank indicates interest rates might not go up as much as had been expected,

so isjerome powell giving into president trump's pressure? the markets in europe all headed higher, we will explain the winners and losers. and what does it take to get ahead in the boardroom? we'll speak to one london investment firm that gives a helping hand to women and ethnic minorities growing their businesses. you can get in touch with us throughout the show on twitter — let us know what you think about the stories we're covering — use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. we start in the argentine capital buenos aires — where leaders of the world's 20 top economies are gathering for this weekend's g20 summit. for global business it's all about two of them — us president donald trump and chinese president xijinping —

who are due to meet on the sidelines to try and resolve their destructive trade war. this year the us has slapped import taxes or tariffs on almost half the products it buys from china — goods worth $253 billion a year. and president trump has threatened to put tariffs on everything else if he doesn't get a deal he likes this weekend. china has responded with tariffs of its own — on the vast majority of us goods it imports, worth $110 billion a year. notice it's a much smallerfigure — the us runs a huge trade deficit with china — in other words it sells a lot less than it buys — to the tune of $375 billion a year. president trump wants that cut sharply. but he and others also accuse china of trading unfairly in other ways — especially by copying foreign technology. china is gradually opening up more to foreign companies — foreign direct investment was up

more than 4% in the first half of this year — led by the tech sector. president xi is on a state visit to spain — and on wednesday he used a speech to the senate to promise to speed up the process. translation: henceforth china's doors to the outside world will not be closed but rather they will be opened even wider. we will greatly relax market access, improve the investment environment and strengthen intellectual property protection. the chinese domestic consumer market is getting bigger and bigger, we would like the needs of each level of society to be met so we of each level of society to be met so we will expand our imports. china will import $10 trillion worth of goods over the next five years, that means we will import on average $2

trillion worth of goods per year. hong bo is professor in financial economics at soas university of london. welcome to the programme. the stage is set, sally has set the stage and explain what's going on in terms of what is at stake, what's the most likely outcome of this in terms of the trade war between these nations, do you think it will be resolved? do you think it will escalate some of these tensions? will there be a cessation of hostilities? this is the first time for the two presidents to meet and i think this isa presidents to meet and i think this is a very important invent in terms of the whole development but i think iam not of the whole development but i think i am not expecting any significant outcome out of this meeting. but i think the conflict will be coming down a little. how disappointing do you think the asia—pacific economic cooperation summit was because for

the first time we did not get a joint communique and one words from that summit, in fact it was out and out wall wasn't it? yeah but that was the first time they did not reach that agreement and they did not publish a formal official report. people are worried about the final report for this meeting as well. but i think they already realise that there is probably a potential issue. i think people have already taken measures beforehand. in terms of the wider context of this and people are listening to us right across the world at the moment, we have got rising political tensions elsewhere in the world, there are clouds over the local economic forecast and potentially rising interest rates with the united states next year as well, how crucial are the negotiations between these leaders in terms of what

happens with trade? as i said this is very important. i think a trade war is hot both sides and nobody will benefit from this type of problem. i think if there is no significant result, there is no result we can see in practice then that means china is going to suffer more than the american economy is suffering from this trade war. that will hurt everybody saw if china is not doing well as the second largest economy, the trade is not going to do well so that will factor the eastern asian economies as well. i think everyone is on the board. we will leave it there but thank you for your insight. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the consumer goods giant unilever is getting a change of leadership. the company which makes products such as marmite and dove soap says

paul polman will retire at the end of the year. it comes just two months after mr polman was forced to backtrack on a plan to move the anglo—dutch firm to a single headquarters in the netherlands. shareholders didn't want the company to lose its london listing. alanjope will be the new boss. the chinese telecoms giant huawei says it's seeking clarification from the new zealand government after it was banned from providing 56 equipment to one of the country's biggest telecoms operators. the ban is over security concerns that are shared by other countries. it comes as the financial times that germany and the uk are under renewed pressure from the united states to take similar action. the uk and us have agreed an "open skies" deal for post—brexit flights, according to the uk transport secretary chris grayling. the arrangement means airlines will continue to fly from the uk to the us after brexit as they currently do. flights between the countries currently operate under the us—eu open skies treaty. to asia now, and the us—china trade

war and a weakening chinese currency have damaged consumer sentiment in hong kong, hitting jewellery merchants in particular. monica miller is in singapore. definitely, retail sales have been growing at their slowest pace in more than a year and this is due to the external headwinds by the mounting trade tensions between the us and china. luk fook put out their earnings earlier today and even in their earnings statement they were saying this had a bearing on the bottom line. sales are in the single

digits and that's looking at sales starting back in october and as far as the mainland the numbers were down in the double digits and it's not just a down in the double digits and it's notjust a trade war that is going on it's also the chinese economy starting to slow down and there is a week, the biggest rival whose earnings we will hear later today area earnings we will hear later today are a household name and their shells fell by almost five and a half percent. thanks for that. asia—pacific equities rose following a jump on wall street — after investors interpreted comments from federal reserve chairman jerome powell as a signal the central bank will slow down its programme of raising interest rates. they are also looking ahead to buenos aires and what that could bring in terms of better relations

between the us and china and what it means for the global economy. a quick look at europe. seeing gains across the board. defensive stocks, stocks like drg or really popular, some specific companies having a really tough time, a shopping centre owner, intu, the company was going to be bought out but that plan has been abandoned and so shares are down 30%. and samira hussain has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. many industry watchers were talking about the death of the personal computer just about the death of the personal computerjust a about the death of the personal computer just a few years about the death of the personal computerjust a few years ago so it may come as a surprise that we are talking about pc‘s being responsible for bringing up the fortunes of hp, that's the expectation that we will know for sure when the company reports earnings on thursday.

analysts a re reports earnings on thursday. analysts are also expecting solid sales of printers and notebooks are also likely to help revenue for the quarter. as ever investors will be looking at the forecast for the upcoming quarter, specifically if the global trade environment and the currency volatility will have an impact on the company. after all those warnings yesterday that a no deal brexit could trigger a severe economic downturn the governor of the bank of england has warned large parts of the uk economy are not ready for such an event. in a bbc interview, mark carney said less than half of businesses had initiated contingency plans. it is in the interests of the country to have some time to transition to whatever relationship there is. we know from our contacts with business, others know from their contacts that less than half of the businesses in the country

have initiated their contingency plans for a no—deal brexit. shaun port is chief investment officer at the investment firm nutmeg. are we sleepwalking into a no deal scenario? it's difficult for businesses to prepare for what we are going to have, to think this is going to be the scenario going forward. my business, we are preparing investment portfolios for a range of scenarios but as a business we are doing the same, what happens if we get a hard brexit, how are we preparing for 2019—2020 but the government is giving us a little guidance on what it could look like, you are planning for some scenarios, some really bad and some benign but the problem is the lack of information. if you are a manufacturer you can stockpile materials but if you are how concerned are you or are you

not, are you an optimist, where are you? i think i am not, are you an optimist, where are you? i thinki am an not, are you an optimist, where are you? i think i am an optimist but the city knew about these effects before, it has been doing its own modelling and understands what the event of a no—deal brexit will look like, 10-15% fall event of a no—deal brexit will look like, 10—15% fall in the pound is pretty much the consensus view. it's not surprising you did not see a movement in equity prices are the pound yesterday, i think the treasury and the bank of england are reflecting the analysis most people have done already. in terms of wider market sentiment there was a boost in terms of equities because of one man in the united states. yes the chair of the federal reserve, interesting comments, scripted this time. there was a big sell—off in 0ctober, time. there was a big sell—off in october, the main cause of the instability now he corrected them with his own comments singly on are

near neutral so potentially another quarter point hike coming in september. thanks very much, more later on in the programme. still lots more to come. we'll speak to one london investment firm that gives a helping hand to women and ethnic minorities growing their businesses. you're with business live from bbc news. the competition and markets authority is launching a full investigation into the funeral sector — after finding that costs have risen by two thirds in the last ten years. for those on lowest incomes — organising a funeral would now cost them nearly 40% of their annual outgoings — more than they spend on food, clothing and energy combined. joining us now from the competition and markets authority is senior director daniel gordon. tell us more about this

investigation you are about to undertake and why you feel it is necessary? our announcement today is an interim report to be put out on oui’ an interim report to be put out on our market study that we launched six months ago and it contains the initial findings six months ago and it contains the initialfindings into six months ago and it contains the initial findings into the funeral sector and the cremation sector. as you said we are worried about the prices, in the last ten years we found prices have increased by over two thirds for a funeral so the typical cost is about £4300, that increase is not just typical cost is about £4300, that increase is notjustjustified as far as we increase is notjustjustified as faras we can increase is notjustjustified as far as we can see by any cost increases or improvements in quality so we are worried there is vulnerable consumers here who potentially are being exploited at a time of great need. this is it, recently bereaved and in no position to shop around. and given cremation is account for 77% of all funerals, how many options to people having their local area anyway? that's exactly right. our major worry is

that the big change in particular are capitalising on the vulnerable position people find themselves in. when a loved one dies the last when you want to think about is financial decisions and you are under a great pressure of time from a hospital or somewhere to make a decision and it's a big decision. as a result very few people make a choice and that's understandable. research shows 14% of people, only 14% of people make the choice and as a result you are very susceptible to high price rises and we have seen that, we are worried we have seen that, we are worried we have seen that over a number of years to the point where these prices need to be addressed. thank you for your time. just to see that dignity, a listed funeralfirm, its just to see that dignity, a listed funeral firm, its shares are down today some 15% on the news that there would be an investigation into there would be an investigation into the industry. real concern that

people are not getting value for money because of the lack of competition. your're watching business live — our top story: president xi has promised a more open china for foreign firms — it comes as he prepares for a key meeting at the g20 summit with us president donald trump over their trade war. a quick look at how the markets are faring. positive day on wall street and a shower, a lot of that coming from the comments from the head of the federal reserve saying that perhaps the path for interest rates is perhaps not as steep as people.. do women need a helping hand to get their companies off the ground? according to our next guest, when it comes to getting a venture funded, women still face an uphill battle. the global consultancy mckinsey found that

although women make up around half of all entry—level workers they thin out to just 22% of corporate executives in the us. in the investment world there's an even greater inbalance. in the uk, only 18% of investment professionals are women. and more broadly only 33% of british firms have at least one woman jana bakunina is part of the leadership team at silvergate investments. talk us through your business and why you are firmly for focusing on women who want to start a company or expand their business? every investment company has a strategy and ours is to invest in female founders, and minority founders, and

effectively to focus on this area because this area as the data shows is overlooked and underinvested. for us is overlooked and underinvested. for us it's very much a business case because if there is a gap in the market we will try to fill out and make a good return from there. market we will try to fill out and make a good return from therem market we will try to fill out and make a good return from there. is it fairto make a good return from there. is it fair to say you see women and ethnic minorities as an undervalued asset and that is where there is value for you to invest? 10096, at the start of this year i looked at the statistics and it's not changed much so looking back at the numbers for the last quarter of 2018 we know that global venture capital funding and its majority goes to male entrepreneurs so only 14% of all venture capital funding went to start—ups with at least one female founder. if we are looking at just female founders, either one of them are a team of them the figure is just 4%.

either one of them are a team of them the figure isjust 496. it did not surprise us when we read the statistics because most of the female founders and ceo's we have on the programme tell us they struggle when it comes to raising venture capitalfunding, in when it comes to raising venture capital funding, in london when it comes to raising venture capitalfunding, in london in particular, they are in a room full of men. is it a business case that you are looking to do well, explain who you pick to invest in and why and what you think might happen with your investments? so we are very, kind of critical when it comes to picking investment. we are not by any picking investment. we are not by a ny stretch picking investment. we are not by any stretch some kind of social impact fund or any stretch some kind of social impactfund ora any stretch some kind of social impact fund or a charity. i am looking at businesses which are innovative, have some kind of technology, which are brilliant founders who have an idea they can execute. we look at large and growing markets. we are looking for something that's going to be the next big thing because as we know

investment is pretty hard in the sense that a lot of businesses are not going to make it so you have have some kind of sense of this is going to make a good return. how many great businesses do you need in order to make it worth your while and make money? i started in favour of this year and i have looked at over 160 businesses, so far we have made three investments. just three from 160? we are negotiating two more, so maybe 4—macro five. by the way all of these businesses i looked at were led by women or minority men and they were great businesses with great stories, it's just that you still have to make a decision. so from my point of view i've never limited myself in the sense that

there is a great pull of entrepreneurs and hopefully they have been very open and focused on such strategy and it gives a message to the women in london and globally if you have a great idea and have the right experience, and find us. thank you so much for coming in, good luck. the troubled uk holiday company thomas cook has reported a pre—tax loss of £163m — that's about $209m in the year to the end of september. this week the company issued a second profits warning in the space of three months as it struggles to cope with the fallout of a hot summer in the uk, which hit demand for foreign holidays and disruption to flights as the boss peter fankhauser explained to me. we had a very good start to the year and then what you mentioned, the heatwave not only in northern europe but the whole of europe, on the continent. that was then delaying

the bookings of our customers and we had a much higher level of discounting in the late market. so undoubtedly we had a tough year. it's a disappointing year but we have to look forward now and take the learnings of 2018 and make it better in 2019. the chief executive of thomas cook who i spoke to earlier. let's see what other stories are being talked about on social media a couple of stories which will take peoples interest, a virus apparently come on alert on your computer but a p pa re ntly come on alert on your computer but apparently not so, the scam is in india and lots of people are falling for it, tell us more? this is a new york times story about fake internet alerts, it might look like microsoft or apple are getting in touch, often calling as well, and one in five

people respond and take the call and have a conversation and one in about 6% of people pay money to have this problem solved. worrying and people need to be aware of it. it's difficult to know what's actual fake and what's genuine and that is the problem with news, with the scams. that seems to be the issue with many things. definitely be aware of these things, if you cannot solve it good advice is to turn the computer off, and these things can turn to go away. you need to be vigilant, not only your e—mail but these pop—ups. read it. let's look at this other story, a guardian exclusive, people buying tickets online and they go to the venue and are turned away at the door, there is a court order against viagogo? the competition and markets authority are forcing them to go

through the cases and refund them so evenif through the cases and refund them so even if you've not committed a claim they are having an independent review and will submit refunds to customers. eight highlights how vigilant you have to be as consumers, i have heard of this with other companies and concerns about people buying tickets online for something only to find out they were not genuine. you are looking forward to the concert, overpay for the ticket and they don't get entry, it's good they are clamping down on this. plenty more on both of those stories online and lots more on the website. when we were talking about those stories, thank you for your company today, we will see very soon, goodbye. looking wild this morning, low

pressure moving up from the south—west, a deep system which will bring gail's cars of your gales to england and wales and then into southern scotland, tightly packed isobars with the system and its weather front bringing heavy rain as well, the combination of heavy rain and severe gales causing disruption to england and wales and southern scotland, keep tuned to bbc local radio or head to the website for the latest weather warnings, the heavy rain will move its way north this morning but let's focus first across southern areas on strong winds, winds will be gusting in in excess of 70 mph in towards coastal parts of 70 mph in towards coastal parts of wales, may be 80 mph in places, 50-60 of wales, may be 80 mph in places, 50—60 further inland and in strong winds moving north and into southern

scotland. likely disruption. also the heavy rain leading to some appalling driving conditions. the good news as we head towards the afternoon at the low pressure continues to migrate north eastwards and there will be severe gales but it will be blustery throughout the day and end of the afternoon should she sunshine. another mildly across the south, a little bit cooler for scotla nd the south, a little bit cooler for scotland and northern ireland. into this evening for the first part of the night it stays blustery with further heavy showers across southern and western areas. another area of low pressure moving as we heard the words friday, notice how tightly packed the isobars are across the northern half of the country sought gales or severe gales for scotland through friday. might be when three nets over the higher

ground, the further south you are fewer showers, cooler day across the board, eight to 11 or 12. into the weekend we continue with the low pressure moving off the atlantic to bring spells of wet and windy weather, central southern portions of the country bearing the brunt, we will see a split in the temperatures, further north apart from a few showers should stay on the cool side, for england and wales wait and windy weather and it should stay pretty mild. you're watching bbc news at nine with me annita mcveigh — the headlines. the prime ministerfaces questions from senior mps on the details of her brexit deal. new video shows the sister of a syrian boy attacked at school and threatened with drowning — also being bullied and thrown to the ground. their family says they no longer feel safe. in the beginning i thought we are

coming first century and safety but funi coming first century and safety but fun i solve what happened to my children, i didn't know what to say stop the hot summer is blamed as tour operator thomas cook reveals losses of more than 150 million pounds. branded unsafe — the hospital trust being investigated over alleged failings in maternity care, is rated inadequate by inspectors.