borisjohnson stands by his

in the spring of 2017, we set out to follow the fortunes of two companies as they fought to establish themselves in the city's optics valley. a dedicated zone for new technology enterprises, it's part of the move to transform the city's economy. this is the story of some of the people who live and work in the city. and the story of wuhan before and after the arrival of the coronavirus that would change all of our lives.

the city of wuhan is the capital of central china's hubei province. home to 11 million people, it lies at the confluence of the han and yangtze rivers. known as the cradle of chinese civilisation, the yangtze is the longest river in the world to flow entirely within one country. and it was here in wuhan that, in 1966, chairman mao zedong made his famous swim — aged 73 — to prove he still had the stamina to run the nation.

xujishui came to wuhan to pursue his education. a former university lecturer, he now heads up a robotics company in the city's optics valley zone.

xu's company began working in car assembly. the competition was tough. and the company is now automating the distillation process for a local white liquorfactory. for xujishui and his business

partners, zhang zipeng and li yi, there are constant challenges. one of the young technicians was recently caught breaking health and safety regulations. and it is not the first time. huang tiesen also came to wuhan to make his name. his start—up company, senguo, is trying to market software that will enable fruit retailers

to adjust their stock and pricing according to real time demand. but after a year, there has been little sign of success. staff are becoming nervous. this man is a front—end programmer who has been with the business since it began.

tiesing chose wuhan to set up his company, hoping to break into this major new technology centre. he turns to his technical director to discuss finding a replacement programmer, but the cream of the crop has been snapped up by all the big players.

tiesing lives with his girlfriend, ying menghua, who's in charge of operations at senguo. the business premises are also

tiesing and menghua's personal residence. xu visits the distillery to offer a personal apology to his client after one of the young technicians was caught breaking health and safety regulations. in china, sitting down over a meal is the best way of clearing the air.

the client is appeased for the moment. but xu has to make sure they deliver on time. he dismisses the technician at fault as a warning to others.

his business partner zhang zipeng disapproves.

it is a difference of opinion that will lead to trouble between the partners. tiesing is also feeling the pressure. he is trying to persuade fruit retailers of the benefits of online to off—line commerce. but the angel investment of $300,000 he got a year ago is running dry and he can barely afford staff wages.

an average of 70 start—ups are registered every day, and over the past 20 years, the population of optics valley alone has jumped eleven—fold to nearly 2 million. the zone was established, in part, to encourage young talent from the city's 80 plus universities to stay in wuhan. like huazhong univeristy of science and technology — tiesing's alma matter. tiesing needs another $700,000 to keep his business afloat, so he seeks out professor liu, nicknamed "business matchmaker" for her aptitude in pairing start—ups with investors.

in spite of tiesing's shortcomings, professor liu can see promise and offers him a place at the next optics valley investment fair she's organising in beijing. but she gives him a strong warning. in the 19th century, wuhan was known throughout the west as a major commercial port and trading centre for tea and tobacco. due to its prime location, it later establish itself as a home to heavy industry. the recent push to establish the city as a burgeoning hub for tech companies means businesses have had to move fast to keep up. at the robotics company, an emergency meeting of senior management has been called to discuss the status of the distillery project.

with the deadline looming, xu notices something he was not expecting. it seems that zhang has been taking things into his own hands. he has given orders to continue production of equipment for a different project.

with the clock ticking and senior management at odds, not only is the prompt delivery of the robots in doubt, but the company's entire operation is called into question. beijing, capital of china and the dream destination for all start—ups. for dot—com businesses, zhongguancun in the north—west part of the city is china's answer to silicon valley.

business broker professor liu is prepping her young entrepreneurs from optics valley. senguo gets its first black mark.

with two black marks already in professor liu's book, tiesing is off to a bad start. tiesing and his partner meet with an investor who had specifically sought them out.

they meet with other investors throughout the day. desperate not to lose his one chance at getting an injection of new capital, tiesing intercepts the investor who had specifically wanted to see him.

in wuhan, xu's business partner zhang is frustrated with the way the emergency meeting went.

at the end of an unsuccessful day of meetings, tiesing is also worried about the future of his company.

in the next episode, tiesing and menghua's relationship comes under pressure. and xu jishui struggles with setbacks.

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this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk prime minister boris johnson stands by his chief advisor, rejecting calls for his resignation, over allegedly breaking coronavirus lockdown rules. according to mrjohnson dominic cummings was "following instinct," in travelling over 250 miles, for childcare, when his wife showed coronavirus symptoms. i believe that, in every respect, he has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity.

the uk labour party have responded angrily to the developments — sir keir starmer said if he was prime minister — he would have sacked mr cummings. this was a huge