this is the business briefing, i'm sally bundock. markets get a boost as president trump says he might let his deadline for a trade deal with china slip. so could an end to the trade war he in sight? droning on about a better work—life balance. in japan, we look at how technology is being used to create a healthier workplace. on financial markets, stocks are up in asia, tracking a strong session on wall street boosted by optimism over us—china trade talks. markets have gained in the us and in asia after president trump said he could let a march deadline for a deal with china slide. it comes as treasury secretary steve mnuchin and trade representative robert lighthizer

arrive in beijing for talks. trump had previously said, if a deal wasn't agreed by1 march, tariffs on $200 billion of chinese goods would more than double from 10% to 25%. let's take a quick listen to what donald trump said. if we are close to a deal, where we think we can make a real deal and it's going to get done, i could see myself letting that slide for a little while, but generally speaking i'm not inclined to do that, 0k? rico hizo is in our asia business hub in singapore. nice to see you. so the markets are very much looking at the positive, and hopeful that talks will go well at the end of this week. that's right, sally. it was a statement from the us president that took the markets by surprise, that he could

extend the march one deadline if good progress was made. in the past, us officials have always said march one was a hard deadline for achieving a deal to avert further tariffs, because both countries have already imposed duties on billions of dollars worth of one another‘s goods. but tariffs, if the deadline is not met, could not only impact the two superpowers, but the global economy as well. deputy level talks have begun this week in beijing. high—level talks, as you mentioned, steve mnuchin and robert lighthizer will be meeting with the chinese vice premier starting tomorrow. and those talks will end on thursday or friday, rather, as both sides rush to make progress before the cut—off date in more than two weeks. washington is putting pressure on beijing to make changes to its economic policies, which it says u nfa i rly economic policies, which it says unfairly favour domestic companies through and other support. it has

also accused the government of supporting technology theft as part of its broader development strategy, while in china there is a sense that the us is using this trade war to contain the country's rise. we will have to wait and see how all of this will play out in the next couple of weeks. thank you very much, we will talk to you about this again soon. with less than 45 days to go until 29 march, the clamour for clarity from business is becoming ever louder. the british chambers of commerce says there is a risk of uk firms being hung out to dry by the lack of clear, actionable information from the government. the bcc, which represents 75,000 firms across the uk employing almost 6 million people, has published a list of 20 critical questions which remain unanswered in the event of the uk leaving without a deal. they include, what tariffs will my company need to pay when importing goods from the eu and the rest of the world? if britain leaves without a deal on 29 march, it will automatically fall back on world trade organization rules, but they vary according to the sector and product. another bcc question —

what procedures will my company face trading between northern ireland and the republic of ireland? if there is no deal, there will be no transition period or backstop. that would mean the uk becoming a country with which the eu has no trade deal, therefore requiring border checks. on tuesday the governor of the bank of england, mark carney, warned of a hit to the uk economy and incomes in the event of no deal. he said business investment in the uk had fallen 3.7% over the past year. lesley batchelor is the director—general for the institute of export and international trade. good morning. you are listening to all of that. what do you make of

what the bcc is saying? you are absolutely right, there are so many questions unanswered, it is getting to bea questions unanswered, it is getting to be a problem for all businesses, it doesn't matter what size they are. i think the larger companies are. i think the larger companies are angry because they are trying very ha rd to are angry because they are trying very hard to understand how to operate, and the smaller businesses, to be quite honest, aren't always understanding the impact that this is going to have on them. are you at your institute having to help out companies as much as possible? i presume they are on the phone to you all the time wondering if you can help. not as much as you think, we do feel the lot of calls, but we have done a lot of work with hmrc, creating some training for people to understand the nitty—gritty of the paperwork and the procedures that they may face. and we know there are going to be 145,000 businesses trading just with the eu that are going to have to treat that as an export now, which it wasn't in the past, and the training is that they are not past, and the training is that they a re not really past, and the training is that they are not really picking up on it as

much as they should do. a lot of businesses are saying, you know, we don't know what is going to happen, but we know something is going to happen and some preparation is really vital. in terms of how the government has been handling this, i don't mean the actual initiate of the deal itself, but how they have been trying to reassure businesses during this process, —— and initiate a mac minutiae. theresa may has held top discussions with business leaders at downing street at critical times. do you feel they have handled this well? is not for me to say whether they have handled it well, but what i can say is there is still no clarity. discussions are great at what we need to see other trade deals coming through. we were told that they would automatically rollover, they haven't done. we haven't got anything in place and we haven't got anything in place and we have no clarity of what it is we are asking for, that is the problem. thank you for coming in. it has been interesting to talk to you, and we

shall keep across this. more detail on our news at, there is a jargon busting page and all sorts of information for you. now let's brief you on some other business stories: all flights to and from belgium have been cancelled due to a 24—hour strike by the country's main transport unions. air traffic control says they are unsure about adequate staffing levels. the strike over wages, benefits and pensions, will also affect trains, buses and ports. twitter‘s boss says silicon valley firms including twitter haven't done enough to protect victims from online abuse. during an interview, jack dorsey said he would give himself a c grade for tech responsibility. social media sites have faced criticism for abusive posts and fake news on their platforms. oil prices have been rising after 0pec said it cut supply by 800,000 barrels injanuary. on top of this, saudi arabia has announced additional cuts. prices have also been buoyed by us sanctions on venezuela. rules around gambling ads here in the uk will become stricter from april.

the use of young celebrities and sports stars will be banned. gambling firms will also need to make sure the majority of the audience of any social media influencers they use are over the age of 18. all this week, we are looking at how japan is trying to change the way people work. deaths from overwork have long been a problem. they are called karoshi. over the last few years, there have been many innovations related to employees' health. as part of our worklife japan series, mariko 0i went to check out some of them. a drone on patrol in the office. it is monitoring the workers, but not for their daily performances. the drone is being used to encourage them to go home. wow, it's quite loud.

so he says the noise is probably enough to send most people home. over the last few years, there have been many innovations related to employees' health. this one analyses how focused people are. so these glasses monitor the movement of my eyeballs as well as how often i am blinking and how i am moving my head. and, by analysing all the data, it tells you how focused i am at this moment. the aim is to help employees realise when they need to take a break. these are small steps that

corporate japan has taken, but to achieve a lasting change requires them to tackle the more basic issue of how much work employees are expected to do. mariko 0i, bbc news, tokyo. that's it for the business briefing this hour. the markets are doing well after a good session on wall street and positive sentiment regarding trade talks between the us and china. a ban on the use of young celebrities and sports stars

in gambling adverts is to come into force under new rules to protect children. betting firms will have to ensure that most of the followers of any social media influencers they work with are aged over 18, as part of the measures. the advertising standards authority will enforce the rules, although it does not have the power to issue fines. the bbc‘s zoe kleinman has more. a recent study by the gambling commission found that the number of children classed as having a gambling problem had quadrupled in the last two years. it cost 450,011 to 16 —year—olds as regular batters, more than those who had taken drugs, smoked or drunk alcohol —— betters. despite strict rules about how gambling firms can advertise, the regular examples of those who slip through the net. matthew spent his birthday money on a mystery box came

after senior promoted by a u tube. he had hoped to win a computer. after senior promoted by a u tube. he had hoped to win a computerlj won he had hoped to win a computer.” won a key ring but a pot —— and a pot of slime, but it never arrived. under the new standards, gambling operators will have to check that most of the followers of any social media influences they work with the under 18. sports stars aged under 25 are also banned from appearing, along with certain animated characters from tv and film. the committee is of advertising practice say it is online ads that need this new boost of regulation. this rule has been in place for quite a considerable length of time. the industry is well used to the fact that there is a cut—off point, they shouldn't be using individuals who maybe have youth appeal, a professional football who has just sort of burst on the scene. so i think we don't see a massive amount of it. however, where we do, we take action. coming up at 6:00am 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: flights to and from belgium have been cancelled due to a 24—hour strike by the country's main transport unions. air traffic control authorities say they are unsure about adequate staffing levels. the strike over wages, benefits and pensions, will also affect trains, buses and ports. britain's prime minister, theresa may, has asked mps for more time to discuss a brexit withdrawal deal with european union leaders. with no breakthough in the talks, there is mounting speculation that mrs may could delay a vote on her eu withdrawal agreement until close to 29 march, when the uk is due to leave. venezuela's opposition leader, juan guaido, has told tens of thousands of his supporters that humanitarian aid will be brought in, despite opposition from president nicolas maduro. mr maduro earlier told the bbc he would not allow aid in, as it was a way for the us to justify an intervention. now it's time to look at the stories

that are making the headlines in the media across the world: we begin with the daily telegraph it reports that the governor of the bank of england, mark carney, has swapped fear for hope, by saying brexit could be a springboard to a "new global order" of free trade. the paper says the comments are in stark contrast to his previous warnings about the risks of a no—deal brexit. the financial times leads with saudi arabia's plans to develop an international energy exploration and production business for the first time. the japan times has the results from a survey on global concerns on their front page. the us under the leadership of president trump is now seen as a global threat by more people than ever before according to the researchers behind the poll. the daily mirror, like many of the uk papers, pay tribute to gordon banks, england's world cup winning goalkeeper who died yesterday aged 81.

and finally the times say they have the answer to the secret of happiness. but it's not good news — unless you are 16 or 70. researchers mapped the happiness levels of more than a million people and concluded that these were the happiest ages of all. between 16 and 17, not so cheery. with me isjoseph sternberg, a columnist at the wall streetjournal. i will not ask your age. mark carney it swaps