this is the business briefing. china's economy grows at its slowest rate in nearly 30 years, stoking concerns of a wider global slowdown. former nissan boss carlos ghosn makes a new request for bail but will his seemingly imminent dismissal from renault lead to a full blown merger between the two carmakers? there is little change in the asian markets as the chinese growth numbers have already been factored into the market. china's economy is growing at its slowest rate in almost three decades. in the last few hours the government said the world's second biggest economy grew by 6.6% last year. it comes amid a broder global slowdown and a trade war with the united states whose effects

are starting to be felt. economic growth of 6.6% for the whole of 2018 was broadly in line with analysts expectations and is the slowest rate of expansion since 1990. but it fits in neatly with the government's target of growth of "around 6.5%". over the last decade china's growth has slowed as the government tries to more carefully manage the economy. in fact on friday the 2017 growth figure was revised down from 6.9% to 6.8%. the government in beijing is wary of too sharp a slowdown and announced a string of measures to try and boost the economy last week. they include tax cuts, infrastructure spending and an $8abn cash injection to try and maintain consumer spending levels. one of the big reasons consumers are reluctant to spend is their growing amount of debt, something that's been rising steadily over

the last few years. so too has the debt held by companies and china's collective debt is now almost equal to three times the size of the economy. alex wolf is head of client investment strategy for asia at the bankjpmorgan and joins us from hong kong. thank you forjoining us. it is good to talk to you. firstly, i know it is difficult to gauge what the actualfigures are. the is difficult to gauge what the actual figures are. the government is not always reliable. however, the consensus is that growth has shifted down a gear. how important is that? it is definitely important. as the world ‘s second—largest economy and ever since the gst, the influence of the chinese economy on the global economy is important. but

it is important to keep it in perspective. growth is more sustainable when it is slow in china. it had been growing at rates that were too high for too long. going down a notch in terms of growth is a healthy development. 50 growth is a healthy development. so is this what the government really wanted? yes. i think they are ok with growth slowing as long as it is not to shop or quick. i think they are going for slowdown in a controlled manner. bernard had policies to restrict spending and to try and open —— reduce debt levels but not in a way that impacts growth. you now they are introducing some measures to boost demand. they are up construction projects, cutting taxes. these efforts to boost consumption? yes. if you look past the gdp growth number which in

some ways you should take with a grain of salt. china is very much an economy that is aspirational but if you look below that level then you get industrial production all retail sales or infrastructure investment you can see a sharp slowdown. especially over the fourth quarter but even going back to the middle of last year. now they are trying to implement stimulus policies. it is all about trying to smooth through the cycles. and one of the shocking aspects of reading through the data is level of debt in china. what is the government doing to counter that? over the last year, even beyond last you, say the last 18 months, they have been trying to reduce corporate debt. you concede progress in corporate debt as a percentage of gdp has declined. they are trying to reduce shadow banking,

the lending outside the formal sector and they have been successful. but as you mention, one of the big concerns over the long—term is the rise of household debt. that has increased significantly over the last few yea rs. significantly over the last few years. now it is beginning to impact consumption. household debt levels are now quite high, especially as a percent of household income. stru ctu rally that presents percent of household income. structurally that presents a risk. what advice would you give to anyone wanting to invest in china right now? well... there certainly are risks. many of those are well—known, be at the debt level or the trade war. pricing for anyone investing in the chinese market, how much i being paid to take those risks? what are the valuations? what are the yield level on bonds? there are no shortage of risks across china or emerging market that you have to say that from a stock market perspective

there was a large sell—off in the worst performing market. it is important to be aware of that. to study them. but in a lot of way, make the market more attractive. so you are being paid to take those risks in many cases. think you very much indeed. the embattled former chairman of nissan, carlos ghosn is making a new application for bail in tokyo. he's been in custody on allegations of financial misconduct since november. he denies any wrongdoing. but his detention has raised questions over the carmaker‘s alliance with france's renault and the possiblity of a full—blown merger. 0ur correspondent, rupert wingfield—hayes is following development in tokyo. do you have the latest on the bail hearing? this was filed on friday in the tokyo district court they are expected to examine the request today and make a decision. essentially it looks like carlos

ghosn and his lawyers have decided to try and plead that he is not a flight to try and plead that he is not a flight risk. we understand... this has come out through carlos ghosn‘s family and lawyers in new york, but in the filing here said he is prepared to stay injapan, rent an apartment here to post a higher amount of bail, even to wear one of those ankle devices and even go to the extent of hiring private security guards to keep watch on him while he is essentially under house arrest. he is making a submission to the court to say look, you said i am a flight risk i am not. i am prepared to bend over backwards to make sure that i can not run away if you let me out on bail. let's talk about the alliance between renault and nissan because there is talk now ofa and nissan because there is talk now of a merger between the two. what are japanese saying about that? everybody is skirting around the

subject. we heard from the nissan ceo today saying that that is not under discussion at the moment. the issueis under discussion at the moment. the issue is that the current set up between nissan and renault is odd. renaud owns 43% of nissan's voting shares and yet the two companies are described as an alliance or a partnership. renault does not control nissan even though the capital structure is exactly that. that has held together for 20 years at by carlos ghosn. and now that he is in custody the companies know they will have to come up with am sort of more formal structure to keep the alliance together. the question is what will that be? you will know that nissan and renault have very different views of what that structure should be. thank you very much. facebook says it will work with the german government to help tackle fake news in the run up to elections for the european parliament later this year. the social media network's head

of operations sheryl sandberg told a technology conference that it would also spend $7.5 million on research into the ethics of artificial intelligence. the company has been under worldwide pressure over fake content and the privacy of users' data. the troubled uk coffee shop and cake chain patisserie valerie is facing a crucial couple of days if it is to survive. the company is hoping to extend a deal with its bank which expired on friday and has allowed it to continue trading. it's been struggling since october when it uncovered "significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities". the serious fraud office is continuing to investigate. another struggling uk retailer, hmv, could be saved from administration by mike ashley. the entertainment chain is struggling because of business rates and consumers' move to digital music and films. it is unclear how much of the company the owner of newcastle united and several other uk retail chains wants to buy or when any announcement on its future might be made. let's check the markets, they are

difficult to gauge because the news from china has already been factored in. the japanese market and the hong kong market are both keeping their heads in positive territoryjust about. coming up next is news briefing and i will take you through the papers. do stay with us here on bbc news. greek riot police have clashed with

crowds of protesters outside parliament who are opposed to the recognition of the countries neighbour under the name macedonia. protesters stormed the steps that they were pushed back. feelings run high in greece about the name macedonia. a clear majority of greeks feel the name belongs to them and them alone. while today's protest was largely peaceful, more radical elements in the crowd tried to fight their way towards the parliament building, through the ranks of the riot police. for some, it was a largely symbolic protest, against an agreement which has already been signed and which the greek government is committed to pushing through parliament in the coming days. translation: i believe everything is over, but we must carry out our duty and be here. translation: i believe this is the last push regarding the national topic of macedonia. i believe the greek people must fight the last battle. it's our last hope. and this is the reason

for their desperation. prime minister alexis tsipras and his syriza party narrowly won a vote of confidence in parliament last week, provoked by the departure of his coalition partner over the macedonian name issue. the parliament in skopje has already ratified the agreement. if the greek parliament now does so too, it will enter into force and become legally irreversible. its champions say it will benefit not only northern macedonia, but the whole of the balkans, and will also be good for greece. this protest may be the last chance of opponents of the deal to vent their anger and frustration. nick thorpe, bbc news, athens. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast, dan walker and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news.

the latest headlines: theresa may is preparing to make a statement in parliament, setting out how she plans to move forward with brexit. china says its economy grew at its slowest rate in almost three decades last year. figures show it expanded by 6.6%. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the i, and "plan b blow for may." the paper claims that rebel mps are plotting to seize control of the commons agenda and suspend withdrawal from the eu. the ft takes a different angle, saying theresa may is now on a collision course with parliament after refusing to shift her position to secure a brexit deal. dominating the front page of the independent, the opening of uk residency registration — the paper says eu citizens face a crisis "bigger than windrush". and moving away from brexit,

the front page of the japan times looks at the possibility of a merger between renault and nissan. it reports that paris has been pushing the deal. but nissan is believed to want to reduce the influence of their french partner. the daily mirror says the queen has sent a message of concern to the woman who broke her wrist in the car crash with prince philip. the duke of edinburgh, however, has not made contact, the paper says. and finally the times says primary school children should start counting sugar cubes in maths lessons in order help cut rising obesity levels. with me is stuart thomson, head of public affairs, government and infrastructure at the law firm bircham dyson bell. stewart, at the law firm bircham dyson bell. let's talk aboui may. stewart, let's talk about theresa may. a big day for her yet again today. what are we expecting from that statement to mps? there seems to be an ongoing series of big days for the prime minister. i don't think we expect much. discussions

with the other political parties do not seem to have gone well, in fact labour refused to meet with her. the s&p and others have made their position is clear. you can sort of see how we have got into this position with the negotiations with europe. a series of red lines she is not prepared to move from, which has influenced the discussions with the parties, as it influenced the discussion with the european commission and its institutions over the past couple of years. nothing is shifting and unless she is prepared to loosen the tyres or rub out a couple of those red lines, it is difficult to see how this will shift in any meaningful way over the next couple of weeks. frankly, that end of march deadline is looming. so, depending on 1's view of these things, that is either a good or a bad thing. but that deadline is that