this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. germany recession fears — new figures could confirm europe's biggest economy continued to shrink in the last three months of 2018 — as trade tensions and brexit doubts take their toll. plus, showdown in beijing. us finance chiefs meet china's vice premier — amid growing signs of the damage their trade war is doing on both sides. and on the markets. investors cautious as those vital trade talks continue — although better than expected export figures from china providing some relief about the state of the global economy. japan's nikkei edging higher after wall street shares closed up. we start in germany — where there are fears europe's

biggest economy could have gone into recession. figures out in a couple of hours time will show whether germany's economic output — gross domestic product or gdp — continued to decline in the three months to december. we already know it shrank by 0.2% in the previous quarter. if the economy contracts for two quarters in a row — that is the technical definition of a recession. and recent weeks have seen some more dismal economic data. retail sales tumbled 4.3% in december compared with the previous month. industrial production has fallen for three months in a row. and it's notjust german consumers who are cutting back. china is one of the world's top customers for german goods. imports from germany plunged 15.6% in december — biggest drop in almost three years. and a broader slowdown in europe is taking its toll.

figures from italy have already confirmed it entered recession at the end of last year. at a meeting of the region's finance ministers earlier this week — their chairman blamed two big political factors — brexit and the trade stand—off with china. window that there is a temporary slowdown in our economies. —— we know. we also know that the risks that the commission has found out oui’ that the commission has found out our political risks, which is really a call for us politicians to act. we have a lot of to do on that front, reforming europe, but also reducing important risks on trade and the brexit front. florian hense is european economist at berenberg bank. hejoins me on business briefing.

good to have you with us. if it's as simple as that, is it down to break the deadly stand—off with china that is causing this pain for germany's economy? no, it is not that simple. these are two factors that way on the german economy. but basically the german economy. but basically the german economy has suffered a severe yet over 2018, narrowly, probably, avoiding a recession, sort of indie second, in the fourth quarter. apart from the chinese slowdown, brexit uncertainty, we have a number of issues. the trade thing. uncertainty in italy is running pretty high. and obviously some home—grown problems in the germany. the car sector suffered a big hit in the third quarter. 0n the rhine, the water level was pretty low, so that affects industry. so a number of factors that added up over

this year, which meant for the german economy to slow down in a big fashion. and when we talk, quite frequently on these programmes, about the general slowdown of the global economy, because germany is such a big exporter, it relies so much more in other countries buying its goods, does that leave it, potentially, much more vulnerable to the global economic slowdown than other nations? fully agree. it is more exposed to global growth and trade growth. and both of these have slowed down throughout 2018, for these number of reasons. and we won't be surprised if the german economy would react to that —— and we would be suppressed. 0ver economy would react to that —— and we would be suppressed. over the past couple of years since the german economy has been doing pretty well and domestically, fundamentals like the labour market, the fiscal

side, obviously, of the economy, they are pretty solid. that germany has actually the means to kind of buffer a couple of quarters where, sort of, the momentum is a bit weaker, whether germany is going to do that is a different story. but it could actually buffer a bit of a soft patch. florian hense, thank you very much. from berenberg bank. and we will keep up to date with what those figures are for the german economy and bring them to you on bbc world news added later. —— a little bit later. let's go to beijing now, where us treasury secretary steve mnuchin and trade representative robert lighthizer are holding trade talks. the us has imposed a 10% tariff on $200 million of chinese goods in retaliation for what it claims are unfair trade policies. those tariffs are set to ratchet up to 25% on march 1st if a comprehensive trade deal isn't struck. michelle fleury has more from new york. a key pa rt

a key part of donald trump's economic rhetoric was the loud and co nsta nt economic rhetoric was the loud and constant complaint that china treats the us on fairly when it comes to trade. he has picked up america's long—standing criticisms of the way china appropriates foreign technology and fails to respect intellectual property. and to that he has added a stream of complaints about the size of the trade deficit that the us has with china. but now was when rhetoric finally has to turn into policy. mr drum's man —— men in china, steve mnuchin and bud light hi mark, are tough to get them to do anything. the mood music emanating from the us delegation seems positive for now. that president trump has indicated that he might let them —— the march one deadline for increased tariffs to slip a little. so for now markets here in new york and around the

world can be encouraged that a deal is close to happening. well —— what it will likely look like, that is unknown. it might be worth noting that another key piece of mr drum's rhetoric, building the border wall, also just rhetoric, building the border wall, alsojust met rhetoric, building the border wall, also just met political reality and it is not being built. michelle fleury there. let's stay with china, because the latest trade figures could ease some of those concerns about the impact of the us—china trade war. there's been a surprise increase in chinese exports injanuary. sharanjit leyl is following this for us in singapore. i have been looking at the detail of this. how has this happened then? anning, it is incredible, isn't it? despite the trade row between us and china that we'll keep talking about, we just china that we'll keep talking about, wejust had china that we'll keep talking about, we just had michelle dockery matic, chinese trade dated today surpassed expectations forjanuary. exports we re expectations forjanuary. exports were up 9% over the previous year ——

michelle talking about. imports were down about 1%. far better than expected that they would decline around 10%. all of this coming after both exports and imports fell unexpectedly in december. it all seems the antithesis of what you would expect if your biggest trading partner slapped your products with tariffs. all of this as that new round of talks between the american and chinese negotiators begin in beijing, as the world's two largest economies renew those efforts to reach a trade deal ahead of that march one deadline when the us ta riffs march one deadline when the us tariffs on $200 billion worth of chinese imports are scheduled to increase to 25% from the current 10%. as you have been hearing, report saying chinese president xi jinping is due to meet with steve mnuchin and robert lighthouse and on friday to help resolve all of the trade disputes. thank you very much. sharanjit leyl there. now let's brief you on some other business stories. it's the end of the runway for the world's biggest airliner.

airbus says it's ending production of the double—decker a380 — 12 years after it was launched. it will cease deliveries in 2021. demand for the a380 has been declining as airlines shift to smaller models. 0nline platforms will be forced to pay publishers and creators for the content that appears on their sites, under a revamp of eu copyright rules agreed on wednesday. the move comes despite intense lobbying by tech giants including google and facebook, which will now have to install filters to stop the uploading of copyrighted material. smaller start—ups though will be exempted. jeans maker levi strauss has filed documents for a listing on the new york stock exchange, planning a return to the stock market after more than three decades. the 145—year—old company, which is controlled by the descendants of the founder, could be worth as much as $5 billion according to cnbc. and now, what's trending

in the business news this morning. 0n bloomberg — a $2.5 billion blue jeans fortune emerges with levi's ipo plan. the descendants of founder levi strauss still own 59% of the company started in 1873 — which could be valued at $5 billion when it floats. 0n quartz — a feud between france and italy sums up the deep rift over europe — mainstream pro—european liberal versus populist. and business insider hears from a prominent former google executive who says she has "grave concerns about how strategic decisions are made at google today" and how it treats employees. and don't forget, let is know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. always keen to hear from you.

that's it for the business briefing this hour. but before we go, here are the markets: —— will be back with news briefing injusta —— will be back with news briefing injust a few nhs england is encouraging people to have their blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked, in a bid to cut the number of heart attacks, strokes, and dementia cases. health experts warn that millions of people are unaware they are at risk because many of the conditions associated with cardiovascular disease carry no symptoms. here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. having your blood pressure taken or getting your cholesterol tested. these are simple steps that can alert us to the danger of developing

cardiovascular disease. through heart attack, stroke, and dementia, it is the main cause of premature death and disability in england. but health experts are warning that not enough of us that if we are at risk. large numbers of people are dying prematurely from cardiovascular disease, which is largely a preve nta ble disease, which is largely a preventable condition, so that is why today we are launching these new ambitions focusing on the big risk factors, the big causes for cardiovascular disease, and we are referring to this is the abc of prevention, atrialfibrillation, blood pressure, and cholesterol.m order to tackle cardiovascular disease, within the next decade doctors want to be able to detect and treat 80% of all those with high blood pressure, to check the cholesterol levels of three quarters of all 40—35—year—old, and assess their risk of cardiovascular disease, and to treat, with statins, 45% of those to be at high risk ——

40—35—year—old. these checks can be done quickly and easily by gps or practice nurse. doctors say we all know our bank pin numbers, but not the important numbers relating to our blood pressure and cholesterol that could save our lives. dominic hughes, bbc news. coming up at 6 o'clock on breakfast will have all the day's news, business, and sport. we continue on the bbc news channel. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a schoolgirl from london, who travelled to syria to join the islamic state group, says she now wants to return to the uk because she's pregnant. theresa may is facing another key vote in westminster, in the latest bid to break the brexit deadlock. chinese and us officials are staging key trade talks in beijing, in the hope of preventing even steeper tariffs. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world:

we begin with the sun who say uk prime minister theresa may is facing the prospect of a valentine's day revolt from hardline tory mps in a key brexit vote. eurosceptic conservatives are threatening to oppose a government motion, which critics say effectively means the prime minister is abandoning a no—deal exit option. the times has a picture of shamima begum who fled the uk to join the terror goup isis in syria in 2015. ms begum who was tracked down to a refugee camp after escaping the jihadists' final showdown says she wants to return to britain but accroding to paper has remained largely unrepentant about originally coming to live under the islamic state. the south china morning post reports president xi will make an unexpected appearance at the american—chinese trade talks in beijing this week, raising hopes that frosty relations between the countries are thawing. the daily mail has a feature on a female barrister who has appealed to her male colleagues to stop making sexist jokes in court.

miss joanna hardy also criticised male barristers for treating the women who work with them as servants. and finally in the mirror, could keith richards be ready to rein in his infamous party lifestyle ? the 75—year—old rock legend and guitarist of the rolling stones says he's cutting down on hard liquor and his beloved cigarettes and embarking on a health drive in 2019. who health drive in 2019. says february is too late for new who says february is too late for new year's resolutions! with me is michaela bergman who's a principal social specialists,