this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. the brexit deadlock takes its toll, as companies scale back uk spending and investors pull billions out of britain. plus, the slowdown in china continues. shoppers and factories feeling the squeeze from a weakening global economy and the trade war with the us. and on the markets, asian shares tumbling as those economic figures from china come in much weaker than many were expecting — raising fears about the extent of the damage being done by that us china trade war. we start with brexit — because as you have been hearing — eu leaders meeting in brussels have refused to renegotiate britain's withdrawal agreement following talks with theresa may.

they have though offered reassurances about the controversial irish backstop plan — which critics say could keep the uk tied to eu rules indefinitely. but is it enough to get britain's parliament to support the deal? on thursday uk business groups warned of the damage being done to the economy by the ongoing uncertainty. despite the vote to leave the eu in 2016, foreign investment into the uk hit a record high of $1.69 trillion last year. that was certainly helped by a fall in the pound making uk assets cheaper. but there are increasing warning signs this year. between april and june, uk companies cut their investment here by 0.7% to $60 billion — the fourth quarter in a row of weak corporate spending. and betweenjuly and september — financial institutions disinvested from the uk to the tune of more than $15 billion. it was the third quarter in a row

that investors have pulled money out of the uk — and that's not happened since comparable records began in 1987. we started to see some evidence that businesses are holding back investment until such time to some thought —— some sort of clarity. i think that is likely to be the case and it it has not really been helped by the fact that the uk economy, as well as the european economy is starting shows lines —— show signs of slowing down as we head into 2019. chris southworth is secretary general of the international chambers of commerce here in the uk. no concessions n0 concessions as no concessions as such from the eu, perhaps a little bit more clarity about some of the details. is it enough for you and enough for people looking to invest? no. businesses are concerned and the uncertainty is just crippling investment. an awful

lot of resources have been lost and a lot ofjobs and investment into local regions and communities as well as the obvious places. what is your message to the likes of theresa may and the european council, these people meeting and seemingly in a deadlock over this? from an international business perspective everytime i go overseas businesses arejust everytime i go overseas businesses are just confused. what is the uk doing? are not looking at europe, they are looking at the uk wholeheartedly. i think decisions are needed to be made. wants that investment goes it doesn't always come back and it is naive to think it goes and comes back. there are plenty of other places around the world where that investment could go instead. is it fair to compare the uk now to the likes of japan instead. is it fair to compare the uk now to the likes ofjapan and instead. is it fair to compare the uk now to the likes of japan and the lost decade of growth that we so often talk about? are we looking at a scenario like that? it is hard to

forecast. where has the uk gone? we have just been stagnant for the past two years, have just been stagnant for the past two yea rs, really. have just been stagnant for the past two years, really. in the meantime, people are making decisions. although businesses are primarily causing investment, there is only so long you can pause for before you look to where that can go. the place to look cautiously is that asian investment is down, japanese, indian investment, a lot ofjobs associated with that and it is all in regions, vulnerable communities like the north—east where the uk needs that investment. the asian economies tend not to like all of the chaotic in private we have at the moment, they like long—term stability and that is what makes the uk attractive as a stepping stone into europe as a sta ble stepping stone into europe as a stable economy. when you go abroad on to these trips looking for investment and trying to promote the uk and these businesses say to you what is the uk doing, what do you say to them? i explain what the

drivers behind it. this has been coming to the uk for a long time, nothing new in terms of what is driving brexit, disparities, frustrations. they are genuine. they have been bubbling away for a long time. i always start to remind people of the political backdrop. but it is hard to explain. we are leaving the biggest, most sophisticated single market in the world. from the trading ‘s perspective companies, most places wa nt to perspective companies, most places want to be in the single market as it is the best place to do trade in the world. they look confused. the uk needs to be careful about how it is treating its trading partners. ripping itself out of europe and making decisionsjust ripping itself out of europe and making decisions just thinking about the uk is a risky game at vickers at the uk is a risky game at vickers at the end of the day you want to do trade deals with other countries around the world and it you risk jobs in india orjapan or brazil, they don't be surprised that when you come around to do that deal it might bea you come around to do that deal it might be a bit more difficult. we

have to be very cautious, we have a duty of responsibility. 30% of the uk passed that mid—sized companies, worsley in the regions, are foreign subsidiaries. they employed more people than all the big companies or small companies. that is important to the economy but also important to overseas countries too. thank you very much. let's go to asia now — and a flood of economic reports for november confirm the slowdown in china's economy is continuing. growth in industrial production and retail sales have both come in below expectations — factories and consumers all feeling the squeeze from a weakening economy and the ongoing trade war with the us. christine hah is following this for us in singapore. this seems to be moving the markets in asia. yes, markets have reacted to this because the biggest thing thatis to this because the biggest thing that is low is sentiment. we have

seen chinese retail sales growing at its wea kest seen chinese retail sales growing at its weakest pace since 2003. industrial output saw growth in nearly three years. that culture that chinese consumers are not buying as much as factories are not making as much, all signs of a slowing economy. if you remember, china did want it economy to slow to a more sustainable pace. it said it will reach its target for this year, about 6.5% of gdp growth. part of thatis about 6.5% of gdp growth. part of that is the could regulate the levels of debt in the economy, especially unrecorded debts from shadow lending. wanted to prevent speculative investment in property and stocks and a slower, more sustainable rate of growth is also supposed to help it reform its economy, slowly internationalising, the chinese currency opening its market sectors and moving the economy to where it is led by consumption and services rather than manufacturing. now we are seeing these external pressures coming in. slowing noble economy hitting

exports and this ongoing trade war. really hurting sentiment above all else. there is a popular view that china can control all of this but this time there are doubts as to whether they can keep this under control while hitting long—term objectives as well. bank you very much. now let's brief you on some other business stories. global debt hit a record $181; trillion last year — according to the international monetary fund. that's well over double the size of the world economy — and equivalent to more than $86,000 per person. the biggest borrowers are the world's top three economies — the us, china and japan. earlier this month the imf warned the ‘storm clouds of the next global financial crisis are gathering' — with excessive debt one of the big risks. the french government is seeking candidates to replace renault boss carlos ghosn, according to a report by reuters. at a board meeting on thursday, renault directors were briefed on an investigation by their alliance partner nissan, that led to ghosn's arrest

and dismissal as chairman for alleged financial conduct last month. he is accused of failing to declare some $113 million in earnings, which he denies. apple has announced a $1 billion plan to build a new campus in austin, texas. it says the 133—acre site will employ 5,000 new workers but will have the capacity to accommodate 15,000 and it expects to become the city's biggest private employer. apple has committed to create 20,000 newjobs in the us by 2023. and now — what's trending in the business news this morning. on business insider: trump is failing to achieve one of the biggest goals of his trade war, and he only has himself to blame. according to economists from goldman sachs, trump's tariffs on chinese goods are actually making the trade deficit worse. from wired, dr elon and mr musk.

inside tesla's production hell. it promises the inside story on what it's like to work for the tech tycoon as stress levels rise over the model 3 car — describing ‘unfettered genius‘ and ‘unpredictable rages' an employee is quoted as saying: "everyone in tesla is in an abusive relationship with elon." 0n bloomberg: sydney property is tumbling. don‘t expect the central bank to help. it reports the biggest australian cities have seen house prices slump over 10% — the most since the late 80s — with experts saying in sydney they could still fall another 10%. they are still up some 60% since 2012 though. asian stocks have been falling on some of that news coming out of asia. plenty more throughout the

rest of the day when it comes to business and we will keep you updated on those asian market. does a bowl of rice produce more climate warming greenhouse gases than a plate of chips? scientists are calling for mandatory food labels that spell out the impact on the environment. they say it would help consumers make informed choices about how the food they eat can contribute to climate change. helen briggs has more. lunch hour at a market in south london and these customers say they

would welcome more information about environmental impacts. would welcome more information about environmental impactslj would welcome more information about environmental impacts. i think maybe more advertising on what impact it has, in—your—face advertising and statistics and look it them. you have to turnaround the packaging and for it. i think it would help to make it more clearer, so we can make a more ethical position because sometimes it is not really obvious, how they can label it can influence out how they can label it can influence our choice. i would like to see corporations and the food businesses taking more responsibility for the impact they have on the environment. beef and dairy have high carbon footprints, but products like chocolate are not far behind and according to the scientists, if all foods have labels spelling out there in the middle credentials we would able to make better informed decisions. what we eat is one of the most powerful drivers bit behind most powerful drivers bit behind most of the world ‘s major environmental issues, whether it is climate change or biodiversity.

labels would create information about greenhouse gases and put that on products. claim labels for food are already being considered in denmark, but european food manufacturers are sceptical not saying that they risked overloading customers with information. that story and more coming up at six o‘clock on breakfast with charlie stayt and tina daheley. plus it‘s 100 years today since women voted for the first time in a general election in the uk. breakfast look at some of the incredible stories of the women who fought for those rights. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the eu rebuffs theresa may‘s attempt to get greater assurances over the brexit irish border issue. leaders say there can be clarifications but no renegotiations. the suspect in the strasbourg christmas market shooting has been killed by french police after a two—day man hunt. police say they shot him when he opened fire. three people were killed in tuesday‘s attack.

a virgin galactic rocket plane has had its most successful launch to date in a race to commercialise space flight. it‘s the company‘s fourth test flight following a number of setbacks. now it‘s time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the gulf news, who report the un secretary general has announced that yemen‘s warring sides have agreed after week—long peace talks in sweden to a province—wide ceasefire in hodeida and a withdrawal of troops from the contested red sea port city. the irish times says european union leaders have rejected theresa may‘s plea to redefine the border backstop, insisting the guarantee of no hard border in ireland cannot be renegotiated. the european council last night refused to give the british prime minister the legal assurances she sought that the backstop will only be temporary. the independent has a series

of articles highlighting the huge increase in people sleeping rough on the streets of britain. according to new figures, levels have doubled in five years with more than 211,000 people currently sleeping on the street. the ft reports the european central bank is to halt its 2.6 trillion euro programme of bond purchases this month, despite the deepening economic slowdown in the eurozone. there are now concerns over the lack of any safety buffer against a deflation shock.