hi there. welcome to asia business report with me, mariko oi. let's begin in china where we've been talking about the property sector crisis that is weighing on its economy. one of the country's biggest developers, country garden, has said it has lost $6.7 billion for the first six months of this year, adding to worries of a potentially disastrous default. it's the latest sign that the world's second biggest economy is struggling to gain traction after lifting strict covid—19 restrictions. our asia business correspondent, nick marsh, has the details. it practically rolls off the tongue by now. slow growth, record youth unemployment, weak exports, record property sector in crisis. china was supposed to be roaring back after three years of zero—covid. actually, it is doing the opposite. let's take a look at what's

happening and how serious the situation is. property is basically at the heart of everything. for 20 years it boomed, developers borrowed billions, families invested their savings in houses. but now it's in crisis. there are too many houses and not enough people wanting to buy them. it means prices are plummeting. that is basically the biggest reason why we haven't seen the post—pandemic spending boom that so many had predicted in china. chinese would splash their savings, consume like crazy, go to parties, and come back, and that hasn't happened. everybody is well aware that their financial wealth is concentrated in housing, it's being hammered. some economists are worried on a deeper level. for the past few decades china's astonishing growth has been powered mainly by building. factories, roads, bridges, houses, you name it, china needed to industrialise and it did. but there comes a point

where there is only so much you can build before it starts becoming a waste of money. you cannot grow the chinese economy by building more buildings. you cannot. it was necessary up to a point but now it is not anymore. demographics are not telling you to build more buildings. manufacturing has reached a peak. so if china is running out of road, literally and figuratively, what do you do now? you can encourage consumer spending like in western countries but china's communist party that seems wasteful not to mention individualistic. you can always relax regulations in finance or tech but again, that means giving up a lot of government power. maybe the chinese leadership is ok with the way things are. let's not forget that in spite of this crisis the rate of growth is still higher then pretty much every other western country. but after three long years of zero—covid, people's houses losing value, young people struggling to find

a job, there are those that argue that the leadership needs to take action sooner rather than later. are they worried? of course, they see the numbers. do they understand what needs to be done? i'm not sure. my guess is they're missing certain things that are fundamentalfor the future of china. that was professor antonio fatas from insead business school ending nick marsh's report. for more on the challenges facing the world's second biggest economy, go over to our website, bbc.com/news, where you will find more analysis by nick. let's move onto the us where we've got an updated data on the world's biggest economy and it grew at a less brisk we have breaking news coming in from china with the official manufacturing data being released. it has reported on fifth straight month of contraction in its manufacturing sector but not as bad as expected. so the number coming in at a9]. anything

below 50 is a contraction but still, economists were expecting something around a9.2 - a9.a expecting something around a9.2 — a9.a so it is better than expected and also slightly better compared tojune's a9.3. moving on to the united states now where we got updated data on the world's biggest economy and it grew at a slightly less brisk pace than initially thought in the three months to june. still the expansion is not bad news at all. let's see how markets reacted. the nikkei is slightly higher and they are taking their cue from positive reaction on wall street as well where we saw the main indices react positively. the latest data signals to investors that including the us economy could mean the central bank will paul's rate hikes and also it could mean that the economy may have avoided a recession. one

analyst says she is keeping a close eye on the labour mark could. you are seeing growth that is slower in terms of monthlyjob creation but much more sustainable. add that to the overall unemployment which is near record levels and i expected it to hover around record lows on friday with the government relief. what you're seeing when you sum up the facts is an economy that looks well positioned to achieve the soft landing. yes, it has been quite resilient, hasn't it, but i thought it was interesting when you mentioned housing is a good barometer of how rising interest rates affect the economy so how is that sector going? yes, that's because in the us and most other economies in the world, the housing sector is one of the most interest rate sensitive, so historically the housing sector has led the us economy both into and out of recession, so an important signal. the difference this time that one has to keep track of his that the us, unlike china,

is a chronically undersupplied. there is not enough housing and a real affordability issue for a lot of homebuyers matched with interest rates that have risen very, very quickly on new houses for borrowers. so what you have is a very expensive housing market. the signal is that house prices are reared fleeting and that's not good news for the federal reserve that is hoping that the house prices and apartment prices come down. it is easy to criticise the central bank would have they done a pretty decentjob in navigating the very tricky situation? it has been tricky. when we started the inflation battle in terms of rate hikes, inflation was at 9%, the inflation that consumers saw. it is now 3.2% on headline, core inflation is a little bit higher, a little bit higher than the fed would like for it to be. we have a 2% target here in the united states so a lot of progress has

been made but there is more progress to come and that last a mile to the federal reserve? preferred rate might be the hardest. i wouldn't say that the victory can be stated yet. i think we still have to see inflation return back to the 2% target. we are waiting on the latest growth figures from india for the three months tojune and economists expect the headline number to show an expansion by as much as 8.5%. rising food prices remain a huge concern in the world's third—biggest economy, and are having global applications, as our asia business correspondent reports. feeding her family of four, this humble vegetarian meal cost her a third more than it did a few months ago. with prices in most staples

soaring, the money she brings home as a domestic helper isn't enough. she has now taken on part—time work as a seamstress to earn additional income. translation: i'm a single earner in the family - and we can't save anything anymore. everything from food to gas cost more. we are very stretched. there is no respite and prices for basic staples and food markets like these. and as the country's poorest suffer from soaring food inflation the government has had to bring in curbs on the exports of essential commodities like rice, wheat and even onions to cool domestic prices. this has global food security implications, say experts. india accounts for a0% of the global rice market. since it's ban on non—basmati rice came into effect, prices to markets like thailand have jumped 20%.

and now a sugar ban under consideration could aggravate the situation. in case there is a ban on sugar exports, which the likelihood is increased because there is projection of sugar production being lower in the next season, that would have an impact on global prices. all the economies are right now focused on controlling inflation in their own economies. so i would say that india also has to take care of its own interests. food makes up for a big chunk of an average indian�*s monthly expense. while soaring business prices are eating into disposable incomes, erratic rains and changing climbing patterns and have led to lower yields for many of indian farmers like this person. he spent three and half thousand pounds selling onions —— sowing onions on his three acre plot of land. and is staring at big

losses this year. translation: the quality of the crop was very poor. because of the unseasonable rain. 80% of what i've stored has rotted. i'm not going to be able to cover my costs. with a big general election looming, unrest due to high food prices is a risk no government will want to confront. we will be back tomorrow so join us if you can. for now, thank you for watching. hey. i am zoff with the catch up. our top story this hour night: three women who were raped by the same man have

teamed up to try to change how courts in scotland treat victims of sex offences. jennifer mccann, hannah mclaughlan and hannah reid say they now think twice about reporting an attack. they've given up their anonymity to speak about what happened and want to improve the way victims are supported, give them the chance to explain the impact of the crime, and change the way victims are treated in court. stricter guidelines on what defence lawyers can say to victims giving evidence because you aren't treated likea human, you are treated as a bit of evidence. the scottish government say they agree change must happen, and if you've been affected by any of the issues we've been talking about, there is loads of advice and support on the bbc action line. other stories now, and the proposed new laws to force criminals to attend sentencing hearings could be by using force or the prospect of longer imprisonment. judges already have similar powers but they are not used very often. imagine your favourite tv show as a videogame. netflix is focusing on making games

based off its series to keep you subscribed. one of the bosses said the goal is to have a game for everyone. time for ten seconds of tomatoes. yes, you heard that right. the world's largest tomato fight has just taken place in spain, involving over 20,000 people. imagine that smell though. also, the last guy is very, very brave. good luck to the cleaners as well. you are all caught up now. see you later. voice-over: bbc news, - bringing you different stories from across the uk. with these, these, and these, there are more options than ever to peddle around the capital. —— pedal. london's original bike hire scheme was launched by former mayor borisjohnson in 2010 but the numbers using so—called

boris bikes are not what they were. figures suggestjourneys made between january and july were down by a third on the same period last year. and are at their lowest for a decade. some believe it is the price. last september, tfl changed the annual subscription and fee for single journeys. i would usually have four journeys for the cost of £2.50 a journey. i want to hire a bike and found that it is £1.65 perjourney. others point to the rise of rival hire bikes. reducing usage of the santander scheme is the competition from other hire bikes. there are now four main hire bikes. among these riders, ease and comfort is key. i actually don't have my own bike anymore because it got stolen so many times. i used boris bikes. those bikes are heavy. in response, tfl said it is working to make cycling more accessible and increasing the number of the e—bikes in the scheme. voice-over: for more - stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm marc edwards. here's what's coming up on the show: stricker stuns tsisipas at the us open as the qualifier sends the 7th

seed out of the tournament dutch delight — psv eindhoven trash rangers to book their place in this season's champions league. kiwis crushed as england cruise to victory over new zealand in the first t20 of the four—match series. hello and thanks for joining us on sportsday. no better place to start than at flushing meadows. there's been a shock result at the us open in new york. world number seven stefanos tsitsipas is out. he was beaten by switzerland's dominic stricker. the 21—year—old qualifier, on his debut at flushing meadows, showing his quality throughout the four—hour io—minute epic to earn his second

five—set win at a major. it's also stricker�*s maiden top 10 scalp,