this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. great progress but no deal yet. president trump holds talk with china's vice premier over there $360 billion trade war saying it could be resolved within a few weeks. plus after the biggest divorce in history, jeff bezos is still the richest man in the world with but his ex— wife is now one of the worlds richest women. and on the market, a muted day of trading gci’oss market, a muted day of trading across asia because hong kong and china were closed for a holiday. there is little change in the dollar. jobs report is coming up from the us a little later on.

we started in washington regarding the trade talks with china. donald trump says the deal has a very good chance of happening and could happen within a few weeks. but he warned it would difficult to left —— allow china to continue trading with the us if issues remain. last year to president trump imposed taxes on $250 billion worth of imports from china because of what he says where unfair trade practices against the united states. china retaliated with ta riffs of united states. china retaliated with tariffs of $110 billion worth of

goods that it purchases from america. it wants all tariffs removed as part of this deal. china sells far more into the us than the us itself to china and president trump wants this to change. if anything, the trade war has made things worse. the deficitjumped11% toa things worse. the deficitjumped11% to a record $419 billion. the us is also concerned that china may agree toa also concerned that china may agree to a deal but will not stick to it. the us trade representative said to congress that any agreement must be enforcea ble. congress that any agreement must be enforceable. all this means that china has made some concessions. it has already changed some laws to provide more protection to foreign firms. foreign firms currently have to form a joint venture with local firms and that means sharing technology and commercial secrets. according to bloomberg there were plans for 100% foreign owned countries to be allowed to operate in the country from 2025. we have agreed to far more than we have left

to agree to. in fact i would say, i think i can say, that some of the toughest things have been agreed to. we have some things that are easier right now that we are doing but it isa right now that we are doing but it is a very, very, using the word i don't like to use, it is a comprehensive deal. comprehensive. i'm sure our best will be just as comprehensive. mark schaub is an international partner at a firm in hong kong. how revolutionaries that idea, that foreign forms could operate in china without having to form a joint venture. it is a misnomer to say that they will have to have a joint venture. they have been hundred% owned companies in china since the 1980s. for every joint—venture we see we there are five or ten wholly—owned companies. the issue is that when bloomberg was talking about 100% by 2025 that is

probably in all sectors, which may be optimistic. what impact would it have, if it did happen, if it went ahead as bloomberg is reporting by 2025, what impact would that have on businesses already operating in china? would there be an impact on existing co ntra cts 7 there be an impact on existing contracts? famous company such as the automotive companies have already had restrictions loosened. the big restrictions are things like telecommunications and publishing, education and those issues cannot see it going to 100%. if they do listen to some of the sensitive set is that may mean the company is currently as a joint venture could become wholly—owned companies. currently as a joint venture could become wholly-owned companies. what sort of pressure... you have worked in this industry for a while and have been working in hong kong for some time. what kind of pressure has been put on businesses trying to operate in china and in hong kong as a result of these trade deals? these

trade wars i should say. a result of these trade deals? these trade wars i should saylj a result of these trade deals? these trade wars i should say. i don't think it is about tariff very much. i also think from the figures you mentioned about the deficit that that deficit cannot be overcome easily. i think it is mostly about technology and about china creating local champions that can compete with key american interest. for example planes are being developed and that could dislodge boeing as a major supplier to china. that is really probably wait is very difficult and although enforcement isa difficult and although enforcement is a big issue it will change the landscape and you may have heard about the china 2025 programme, that was a programme to have china lead technology rather than just be a factory. so ai, big data, those sort of things. thank you very much. let's stay in the us, where the world's richest man will stay that way — just — despite the most expensive divorce in history. amazon founderjeff bezos and his wife mackenzie have finalized the terms of their split.

she will get amazon stock worth over $35 billion although she will give up all voting rights. it makes the former mrs bezos the world's third richest woman after the heiresses to the l'0real and walmart fortunes. dave lee in san francisco has been following the story. people were bracing themselves because this was going to be the divorce settlement to end all divorce settlements. the world's richest man, jeff bezos, who will still maintain that title after this divorce goes through. he will still have a few billion more than bill gates. mackenzie bezos is about to become the third richest woman in the world when she gets this stake in amazon that will be worth around $35 billion — 4%. one of the crucial parts of the settlement is thatjeff bezos will maintain the voting rights of mackenzie's stock which means he will not lose any power at

amazon even though he is losing 25% of his stock. and that is pretty important to him. he has as much say in amazon as he did before. and that is presumably... when you look at the reaction from investors today, they seem indifferent. stock down by around 1% today, nothing out of the ordinary. it seems that the divorce settlement has pleased the couple. they went on social media to say they were happy with what happened. and that they were supporting each other. they would continue to be coparents of their children and investors seem happy with that arrangement as well. elon musk‘s future as ceo of tesla looks safe for now after a new york judge ordered him to settle his row with financial regulators over his use of twitter, out of court.

the us securities and exchange commission had asked thejudge to hold mr musk in contempt for continuing to tweet market sensitive information about tesla without permission. the issue goes back to a settlement reached last year after mr musk tweeted falsely that he had secured funding to take tesla private — sending its shares soaring. the bbc‘s michelle fleury was at the courthouse in new york. the tesla ceo elon musk was in the courthouse behind me after america's main financial regulator asked a judge to find him in contempt of a settle m e nt judge to find him in contempt of a settlement deal reached last year. they claim he violated the agreement by tweeting on february 19 information about the company's production numbers which they say should have been preapproved. much of the questions the judge asked focused on whether or not that

information was material or not. she also focused on the language in the settle m e nt also focused on the language in the settlement wondering whether or not it was clear and unambiguous. in the end she ordered both sides to go away and try to resolve their differences, giving them two weeks to report back to her saying that this was clearly a case that screamed for the two sides to try and work it out. here is elon musk as he left court. i am impressed with thejudgement. as he left court. i am impressed with the judgement. she is an outstanding representative of the judiciary. mr musk has in the past been and outs can critic of the actions against him. unsurprisingly he left in one of the company ‘s ca rs. he left in one of the company ‘s cars. he hasjust two he left in one of the company ‘s cars. he has just two to try and reach some kind of deal or he and his lawyers may find themselves back here again. now let's brief you on some other business stories. the chief executive of boeing says it will do everything needed to reopen the trust of the travelling

public following two fatal crashes of its 737 max aircraft. in a video statement, they acknowledged there we re statement, they acknowledged there were problems with the anti— stall system but insisted that boeing was working hard on a software fix. president trump has confirmed he is recommending a former republican for a seat on the federal bank board. mr trump has been accused of putting forward political loyalist to the central bank. and the boss of a german bank has told shareholders that organic growth is to low and doing nothing is not an option. it began actions with deutsche bank about a merger last month.

news briefing will be taking you through the new stories making headlines throughout the globe. plenty more in a few moments time we will see you soon. a bbc investigation has found that drivers of electric cars are facing a postcode lottery over charging their vehicles. only three local authorities have more than a hundred different charging locations, while six have none at all. experts have described the current infrastructure as ‘patchy at best‘, while the government says it plans to expand what's currently availaible. david gregory—kumar reports. rush—hour in birmingham and the only

noise in this tesla is the windscreen wiper. well, the windscreen wiper. well, the windscreen wiper. well, the windscreen wiper and the familiar griping aboutfinding windscreen wiper and the familiar griping about finding somewhere in the city to charge the car. there are more electric car owners and more on the road. charging point network has not improved on the street and many of them are clapped—out. it is virtually impossible now to find a charging point that works. new research for the bbc has, for the first time, combined data on the location of public charging point with the number of electric vehicles registered in the same area. the result gives a ranking by council of electric car infrastructure and the second city crashes into the bottom ten. across the uk the general picture is patchy at best. vehicle emissions are a massive issue right now considering air pollution and climate change. from what we found, local authorities still have limited infrastructure for electric car drivers. the council told

infrastructure for electric car drivers. the counciltold us: birmingham isn't unique and this new survey means for the first time we can geta survey means for the first time we can get a real sense of the councils who are charging towards an electric future as well as the ones who have run out ofjuice. for that story and more, breakfast is coming up at six o'clock with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. they'll have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the man accused of the mass killings are two mosques in new zealand has appeared in court to face dozens of new charges. he has been ordered to undergo psychiatric test. as the eu considers how to act over the growing possibility of a new deal brexit, the new leader of germany's

ruling party says she believe european leaders would agree to further talks with the uk. the un, the us and four of its allies have expressed deep concern over fighting in libya. the leader of forces in the country ‘s east has ordered a march on the capital. now it is time to have a look at some of the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the guardian and a milk—lake for northern ireland, an eu official has confirmed that farmers may be unable to sell their milk in the event of a no—deal departure. meanwhile still on brexit, the daily telegraph leads with theresa may's team discussing the option of a second referendum, saying that giving the public another vote has to be one of the options on the table. in the financial times, jeff bezos and his divorce deal with his wife mackenzie which makes her one of the richest women on earth. more on that later.

staying with the ft saga, the personal finance and travel specialist for the over—50s, shares have plummeted despite the rise in the number of people over 50. the company has warned it could be vulnerable to a takeover. and finally the independent. danny rose, who plays for england and tottenham, says racism and politics in football is making him look forward to retirement at the age of 28. that is pretty depressing, isn't it? welcome back, senior vice president for strategy and communication at atos, the it services corporation. let's start with brexit in this story in the guardian about northern ireland facing this prospect of a milk lake, again trying to square the circle of the irish border. 30% of milk, apparently, from northern ireland, then crosses over for butter products and all sorts