time now for the business briefing. they call it the coronavirus budget. in the uk, the chancellor is expected to announce big spending commitments. will it alleviate the economic pain? why learning chinese is seen as essential across africa. we have a special report from zambia. and we are keeping a close eye on financial markets. in asia at the moment, they look like this. read yet again. declines despite a big jump on wall street the night before. we will be live to singapore in a moment to explain all.

so, the big event in the uk todayis so, the big event in the uk today is the delivery of the first budget in over a year, and many analysts are already dubbing it a coronavirus budget. some elements have already been revealed, including more than 600 billion pounds of infrastructure project over five years. financial help is expected of businesses and those who have to self isolate but can't claim sick pay. as the number of cases and deaths grow, government around the world are now under increasing pressure to act. yesterday the latest move in italy was the deputy finance minister announcing mortgage payments will be suspended across the country as a part of a measure to ease financial pressures caused by

the outbreak. the japanese government unveiled a four billion dollars package including business loans and subsidies for working parents who must take leave because of school closures. and in the united states, president trump had said he would unveil measures to stimulate the world was my biggest economy, but notably he did not appear at the scheduled press briefing. his economic adviser did, however, announced the president is asking congress for a large tax cut. president trump has unveiled his proposals, strong proposals for a temporary payroll tax cut holiday, which i think he would prefer holiday, which i think he would p refer to holiday, which i think he would prefer to last through the end of the year. also administratively, as the treasury secretary and others have suggested, we are trying to use assistance to unpaid sick leave people are very important point, also, small and medium businesses, another

important point, and also possibly to some distressed industries or sectors in the economy, may be tax deferral might bea economy, may be tax deferral might be a useful tool. governments worldwide are having to dig deep to counter the effect of coronavirus. chris southworth is back, the secretary general of the international chamber of commerce in the uk. good to see you again. earlier this week we we re you again. earlier this week we were discussing the stress that your members are under. many businesses worldwide are in your organisation. what they wa nt your organisation. what they want out of the budget here in the uk today? when you see action in four areas, this is an opportunity for the uk government to send some positive signals about how exactly it is going to make trade for everyone. we have talked a lot about that over the last two or three years. in terms of coronavirus, we need support for companies, particularly small companies, some sort of cash alleviation, relief on rates or tax, practical trade finance support, but we also need to

see support on infrastructure. i think commitments of 600 billion on infrastructure spending is really welcome. uk by far spending is really welcome. uk byfarand spending is really welcome. uk by far and away the most unequal in the g7 on infrastructure so that is a huge step forward. also bold action on climate change. we have gone out of a global leader, climate negotiations coming into the country in november. this is a real moment to send a clear signal to the world of how we are going to meet our commitments of net zero on carbon emissions. but also on digital trade. we are a leader on digital trade. the rest of the world know that, but was either uk walk the talk and make some serious commitments about removing legal barriers, making sure are on par with leaders like singapore would be a really positive sign for the international community. when it comes to issue like climate change being a digital leader, that kind of thing, do you think that might fall by the wayside given that the short—term problem of coronavirus and what that could mean for the uk economy and for

businesses, our business editor simonjack writing businesses, our business editor simon jack writing a businesses, our business editor simonjack writing a piece and of this budget saying it is all about cash, cash, cash, cash, just about getting through month on month right now with many businesses under pressure. they just didn't anticipate many businesses under pressure. theyjust didn't anticipate it. theyjust didn't anticipate it. the uk is coming out of europe, we are now on our own the uk is coming out of europe, we are now on oui’ own in a global economy. we have got to be able to balance these priorities. of course the immediate priorities, coronavirus, making sure there is enough cash in the economy. . . is enough cash in the economy... and the nhs, that will be getting a lot of funding. a lot of strain and stress on the system. we have to balance that with our global ambitions and what are we going to exactly do to make sure that the uk companies and our trading partners benefit from the uk being independent. we have to leave it there, chris. we will see you again soon i will imagine. thank you for coming in again today. let's now focus on financial markets because you saw the dow there are over 4% across the board on wall street. after the big

gains we saw there, how are asian markets faring today? let's go to our asian business hub. it is a funny one. we had a strong surge on wall street in anticipation from a bit of a handout from president trump, which didn't come. in asia we are seeing mixed messages. absolutely. those markets in asia not doing as well as they did on wall street, and pretty much you put your finger on the actual reason. it was all due to growing scepticism about washington's stimulus package to try to fight off the coronavirus out rate. really knocking the steam out of what we saw as an earlier rally, and the rally was on tuesday as well. shares are flat, lower in the region. investors continuing to fret over the uncertainty of just continuing to fret over the uncertainty ofjust how long coronavirus might last, and the damaging effect it is having on the global economy. one company that has already flagged this

worry up is hong kong, cathay pacific, which reported its annual earnings today. it says it expects to report a substantial loss in the first half of this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. this forecast comes after it posted a 28% drop in its 2019 earnings. it may be equivalent of some 220 million us dollars 2019, that is a drop from nearly 300 million it made the previous year. remember, their performance was already badly hit in the second half of last year by those widespread and sometimes violent anti—government protests in hong kong that led to a plunge in visitors to the city, which of course is one of asia's financial hubs. two of its top executives, including its top ceo resigned after it attracted scrutiny from china public aviation regulator, and really the outlook for airlines and other travel related stocks are already suffering as regional travel slows down, mainly as

many companies countdown on definite clampdown on non—essential travel. definite clampdown on non-essential travel. thank you very much. let's now brief you on some other business stories. the us commerce department has attended huawei public license meaning companies in america will be able to trade with them until the middle of may. it was previously due to expire at the start of april. in the uk, a vote went in huawei public favour in parliament to continue using the technology in the country by the 5g network. we have had more detailfrom the boss, the company announced a the end of the year it is planning to cut 1000 jobs. 1250 jobs could now be under fire. he says it is facing challenging circumstances and needs to urgently improve profitability. that is the chief executive of tata steel

will not replace employees who have retired or left the company. china is now africa's biggest trading partner. many africans are finding business opportunities in china. the language barrier is often a big issue, and partly because of that other schools that teach mandarin are popping up all over the continent. in zambia, the language will become examine will starting this year. so in china, saying hi, hello, is "nihau". zambians are very interested in the chinese language. it is not an easy language to learn. people are always interested if a zambian can speak it. so i did start actually on radio giving my audience some lessons just from your mundane phrases,

to communicating, greetings, shopping, and i found that there is a huge interest in that. china's interaction with africa has been steadily increasing in recent times. zambia is one of those countries in africa that has benefited mainly from infrastructure upgrades and investment as a result of this growing relationship. english is an official language here, but now, because of the rising influence of china, there is a growing interest in mandarin. the confucius institute at the university of zambia is one of the biggest symbols which shows how serious china is in making itself understood. through it, zambians who are interested are learning or appreciating the value of chinese culture. i have seen, as an economist, how the chinese economy was growing, so i thought if i do chinese, i can do business with them.

it is more of building a bridge between the two peoples. it is very, very important for me. mandarin may not be as widely spoken as english is here in zambia. but it is clear that many are making an effort to learn a language that is increasingly becoming of business importance. that is your business briefing. the health minister has become the first mp to be diagnosed with coronavirus. she reportedly fell ill on friday, the day before she attended a reception with the prime minister. she is now self isolating at home while health officials try to trace anyone she has been in contact with, and this comes at a six person

died from the virus in the uk, which has a total of 382 cases. i made a statement... she is a first mp to contract coronavirus. she is a health minister and has trained as a nurse. she is now self isolating at home and issued this statement late last night. now the authorities are trying to trade through the health minister has been in close contact with. she last felt sick last thursday, the same day she attended the reception in downing street. symptoms such as a dry cough appeared on friday last week and she was tested for the virus on monday. last night she tweeted...

she thanked well—wishers. she thanked well-wishers. mr speaker... the government and the speaker of the house of commons are reluctant to close down parliament if the crisis worsens, and so far there is no suggestion that westminster will be closing its doors. in the budget today, the chancellor will unveil measures to help businesses and individuals caught in the fallout from the outbreak, with an mpfalling fallout from the outbreak, with an mp falling victim to the virus, it is a reminder that things are likely to get worse before they get better. six o'clock, it is coming brea kfast six o'clock, it is coming breakfast here. that is with dan walker and sally, who will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing on bbc news. the nationwide lockdown continues in italy with severe restrictions in place on travel and public gatherings. the virus has killed more than 600

people in italy with more than 10,000 infected. former us vice presidentjoe biden has extended his lead in the contest to become the democrat presidential candidate. as you would expect, coronavirus has impacted wherever in the world is dominating the headlines across the media. we begin with the front page of the gulf news, reporting on china by worst is over. while also covering further outbreaks in europe, north america and the middle east. financial times all over the budget, they talk about signalling the end of austerity by unleashing the biggest rise in 30 years. telegraph reports coronavirus sufferers in some parts of europe may be given breaks on their mortgages by banks concerned the crisis could lead toa concerned the crisis could lead to a reception. and joe biden making headlines, the victories he has seen in

psa ‘s michigan, mississippi and missouri on many tuesday of the la times reflecting on calls for bernie sanders to quit now in the race to become the democratic nominee. under the headline, let them cry! the times reports on an academic study that says letting a baby cry it out when they refuse to get to sleep does them no harm. it may teach them self—control. that is a very contentious debate among parents, let me tell you. henry bonsu is back with us. let's get stuck in. i can't remember, your father? i'm not. so you haven't been through that horrible night... know, but i think when i was a child i gave my parents a lot of sleepless nights, so i'm told. did they let you cry it out? of course, it was the 19605. out? of course, it was the 1960s. so you have complete self—control. 1960s. so you have complete self-control. of course, look at me! so, chinese signalling the worst is over. the gulf

news is