this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. share markets rally in asia as the world's two biggest economies put their trade war on hold — but for how long? we'll be live to shanghai for the latest. and global oil prices soar — russia and saudi arabia pledge to extend their pact to limit crude output. it's a new trading week well underway in asia and you can see the gains, and look at the price of oil, spiking as we speak. brent crude is also up. we'll be live to the middle east for the latest. at last some optimism and progress, and the markets are reacting in kind. president trump and chinese leader xijinping have reached

a temporary truce on the trade war between the us and china. the agreement was made after the two leaders met at the 620 in argentina. us and china have agreed to halt new tariffs for 90 days, according to the terms of the deal outlined by the white house. the us had threatened to ratchet up tariffs on more than $200 billion of chinese goods from 10% to 25% injanuary. china says it will buy a "very substantial" amount of farm, energy and industrial goods, though the amount was not specified, to reduce the trade gap with the us. and there'll be fresh talks on the thorniest issues for donald trump. claims of china's intellectual property theft and forced transfer of technology. the us and china set a deadline of three months for to resolve differences, or there'll be new escalation of tariffs. japan's finance minister has spoken to the bbc, giving us his take on the trade war. the us and china set a deadline of three months to resolve these differences, or there will be a new escalation of tariffs. japan's finance minister has spoken to the bbc, giving us his take on the trade war.

translation: as for the us, half of its trade deficit is against china. 0ther its trade deficit is against china. other countries such as germany, mexico and japan, the us has a trade deficit with them as well. however, the formula of 10%, 9% or 8%, that is why china stands up. robin brant is in shanghai. so, everybody is focused on this meeting that the two presidents had. the outcome of it would seem pretty positive at this point? well, it is a ceasefire. it is a lot to take in. there are real differences in what is being reported outside of china and inside china by china's state—run media. for instance, there

is no mention in what we are seeing from the people's daily and xinhua that 90—day negotiation period. no mention of us claims that there must be immediate negotiations of theft of international technology and property —— intellectual property. no mention of the pledged to increase the amount of agricultural products that china says it has agreed to buy from the us. that is not mentioned in the reporting here, domestically, in china, if you are reading the state—run media. that is intriguing. what is interesting in the last hour or so, in terms of news from the white house, there is a treat from president trump, he says that china has agreed to reduce and then remove water tariff imports. they currently stand at 40%. what imports. they currently stand at a0%. what we are seen from the president, as he has come back from buenos aires, is putting it has.

saying that he has got this from the chinese side. nothing officialfrom the chinese authorities you. the import tariff is our put because the chinese put it up to 40% in retaliation in recent months. it was due to come down. let's see what we get from the chinese side. already the president tweeting what you might describe as retail gains from his side to come back to the us domestic market and say, look, this is what i got from the chinese. and this next 90 days is kind of a critical time for companies all over the world. in the west it is very much the festive season, that kind of season. in china they have their new year not far off. it is a good time, isn't it, to see a ceasefire in terms of companies, the money they make, et cetera. and the impact on consumers? there are lots of holidays in the us. there is a big holidays in the us. there is a big holiday here, chinese new year, when essentially the country and all its factories shut down. that will be hugely important. also a good time, you might say, for those farmers and dealers in the us to be able to

offload those 100 of thousands of tons of soy bean that was supposed tons of soy bean that was supposed to come to china but then went elsewhere, but may now be coming back here. there is a real concern about the extent to which china and the us are going to be able to negotiate these key structural issues, the theft of intellectual property, the technology transfer china insists on. market access. will they be able to negotiate the specifics of that in just 90 days? and is china likely at all to concede any ground, enough to placate the us? i think that is hugely unlikely. robin, thank you. let's see how markets are reacting. karishma vaswani, our asia business correspondent is in singapore. from the point of view of financial markets, for now, they are looking on the bright side, aren't they? yes, following on from that agreement, this temporary truce, as we are calling it, there has been some relief on asian markets today. all the major markets are seeing a bit of a all the major markets are seeing a bit ofajump. all the major markets are seeing a bit of a jump. because of this agreement between beijing and washington. this has been a major

risk for investors in this part of the world for the better part of this year. many have been extremely anxious about the prospect for further tariffs in 2019. that is simply because of the fact that asian economies are intricately tied to the fortunes of what goes on in china, even though this trade war is between the us and china, it is the mid— —— the biggest trading partner for many countries out here. so there —— so if there is a downgrading the economic forecast for china because of the trade war, the pain is felt there is well. there is also the issue that many companies in asia have shifted their manufacturing plans out to china because of cost and so many other reasons. they produce the bulk of their records —— products there. products that are on the us tariff list. companies that i have spoken to have said that a 10% tariff was just barely manageable without them having to pass on that cost to their consumers. but a 25% tariff would

have drastically changed their outlook for profits. so this respite, i think that is what you're the optimism and sharemarket today isa the optimism and sharemarket today is a fraction of that. but as robin just said, this is a temporary situation and getting the two sides to agree to some of those major terms and difficult issues over the next 90 days seems very challenging indeed. so because of that, many of the companies i have spoken to, they are saying they are not changing those plans yet to shift their manufacturing bases out of china, indicating that they are not seeing a real deal in sight over the next 90 days. so, a relief rally that investors are enjoying an hour. that's talk about the price of oil. it has been soaring. this is because russia and saudi arabia agreed to extend a deal to cut production into next year. the producer's cartel, 0pec, is due to meet later this week. let's go to paul blake in dubai, our middle east business reporter.

nice to see you, paul. so, the price of brent is up, us crude is up sharply, over 5%. tell us more about what this countries have agreed? that's right. this in large part connects back to what we have been talking about all morning on your programme, the truce in this trade war. 0ver programme, the truce in this trade war. over the past couple of months, the trade war and fears that it would knock down global the mantle have essentially caused the oil price to collapse. we have seen this long rout in the oil market over the last couple of weeks and this has largely been on the part of investors. they have been concerned global demand would drop because of this trade war and therefore there would be less demand for oil. now that president trump and president she have said they will have a truce in the trade war and they have agreed to restart talks, that has a optimism to the oil market. —— president xi. the other factor is

president xi. the other factor is president putin and mohammad bin salman agreeing to continue cooperating over the issue of oil. that is important because russia is not part of 0pec. it is part of what is informally called 0pec plus. mohammad bin salman and saudi arabia have been pushing for production cuts over the past couple of weeks asa cuts over the past couple of weeks as a way to essentially put cushion under the oil price. but russia has been a bit more reluctant. i think investors have been curious as to where russia stood on this. so by president vladimir putin saying that he was going to co—operate with the saudis in the coming weeks, that has provided more than this for the markets and there has been an increase in brent crude, and an increase in brent crude, and an increase in brent crude, and an increase in north american oil in the last couple of hours. paul, thank you. now let's brief you on some other business stories. staff at the uk fashion group ted baker allege there is a culture of forced hugging by the firm's founder and boss, which they say must end. a staff petition also accuses the founder, ray kelvin, of inappropriate comments and behaviour.

the firm says hugs are a part of its culture but are absolutely not insisted upon. factory activity in china grew very slightly in november, although new export orders fell further according to a private survey. domestic orders have been losing momentum over recent months as the world's second biggest economy slows. let's show you the markets once again. more evidence in terms of the chinese economy that it is being impacted by the trade war between the us and china, but as you can see today, we have got markets really strong. hong kong up. shanghai up by a similaramount. japan strong. hong kong up. shanghai up by a similar amount. japan will close in about 20 minutes. that is your business briefing. up next, news briefing.

but first, the money council spend on care of each person aged 65 and overin on care of each person aged 65 and over in england, scotland and wales has fallen in the last eight years, according to figures analysed either bbc. here's our social affairs correspondent, alison holt. wa nt want a wanta cup want a cup of tea? no? this is a day when 89—year—old dodgy simply doesn't want to get out of bed. she has alzheimer's and need constant care. it means her daughter sam has seen first—hand the pressures on the ca re system. seen first—hand the pressures on the care system. there is lots of expensive places for people to go. if you don't have £5,000 a month, well, between 4000 and £5,000 a

month, then you have to wait for a local authority bed. it is crucial that as families we find somewhere that as families we find somewhere thatis that as families we find somewhere that is spot—on. that as families we find somewhere that is spot-on. because it is really tough? yeah. the bbc's analysis shows council spending on ca re analysis shows council spending on care for each person aged 65 and over has fallen in the last eight yea rs, over has fallen in the last eight years, with the biggest drop in england. here at portsmouth, they have said that has meant the loss of many early health services. have said that has meant the loss of many early health serviceslj have said that has meant the loss of many early health services. i think in the long run it is costing us more because people are reaching that crisis point which sibley could have been prevented, and then they perhaps need more support and more help. councils say cuts to their funding have meant they have had to make difficult choices. the government maintains it has put more than £3.6 billion extra into care this year, and that it will publish plans for its long—term funding soon. and at 6:00 the breakfast

team will have more in the health sector — news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: leaders of four of the countries most affected by rising sea levels will give an impassioned plea to a key un climate summit in poland later. theresa may's brexit deal will come under more scrutiny later, with opposition parties calling for the government to publish its legal advice on the withdrawal agreement in full. so, let's talk about those stories and others. we begin with the ft and climate change. royal dutch shell, the paper reports, will set carbon emissions targets from next year, and these will be linked to executive pay — this is following intense pressure from shareholders that want fossil fuel companies to take greater responsibility for their contribution to global warming.

0n the front of the i, it's parliament versus downing street. there's a constitutional crisis looming, says the i, after the prime minister refuses to show brexit legal advice to mps. le figaro carries a photo taken of the arc de triomphe during saturday's violent protests in paris which it says has left france in shock following the worst riots in decades. bbc news online are reporting that children today are far more likely than ever before to develop food allergies. the rise in allergies in recent decades, according to a recent study, has been particularly noticeable in the west. and finally, the irish times warns its readers of possible huge phone bills for passengers on aer lingus flights who do not switch off their phones during transit. so let's begin.

with me is eileen burbidge, co—founder and partner at passion capital, an early stage venture capitalfirm. let's get started, and this story, front and centre at the financial times, shell is taking action? it is the first of the energy companies are the first of the energy companies a re really the first of the energy companies are really putting a stick in the ground and the big reversal by its chief executive who earlier this year, just this summer, said it would be foolish to try to impose targets and it would open them up the litigation, wrecking your standard excuses, but now about—face and seeing as noted, they will tie