of migrant workers. but the problem could be bigger than it seems. hello, and welcome to asia business report with me, arunoday mukharji. we begin the programme with china's belt and road initiative — because this month marks ten years since beijing kicked off the massive infrastructure project designed to link beijing with asia and the rest of the world, by following the old silk road. these are all the countries that have signed up. it's been a massive undertaking with some winners and losers. our asia business correspondent nick marsh sent this report. the first thing you need to know about the br i is the sheer scale. know about the br i is the sheerscale. in know about the br i is the sheer scale. in the past ten years, more than 145 countries have signed up, three quarters of the world's population, over

half the globe�*s total wealth. now a bri project could be a railway — in kenya, he could be a port — in sri lanka, a bridge — in the maldives, the largest project so far has been the china pakistan economy corridor. it goes through kunz or rob, which is a desert mountain pass on the china pakistan border. the second thing you need to know is that it has two official names, one for inside china and one for outside china. now initially was called one belt, one road four which sounds great in chinese, a grand plan led by china. the problem is in english, that sounds bossy, like china is dictating to the rest of the world. so if you years ago, the name was changed to the slightly blender but less threatening bell and road initiative. the third thing is

that it's controversial for some, china has ploughed more than $1 trillion. their airports and roads that would not exist were it not for chinese investment. but ultimately nothing comes for free. it is in a so—called debt trap, where the recipient struggles to pay back the loan and china takes ownership of the infrastructure. now china says this is nonsense, it's the same bilateral lensing that rich western countries do through the imf or the world bank, plus there are plenty of independent observers who say it's simply not in china's interest to lend all this money to countries that can't pay it back. in any case, bri is part of xijinping's vision back. in any case, bri is part of xi jinping's vision for china public place in the world. and in beijing this week, china will be hosting the third belt and road forum over two days starting today. russia's president vladimir putin is due to attend.

he has rarely undertaken any foreign trips since any foreign trip, since the war with ukraine after the international criminal court issued a warrant for his arrest. this trip to china will be his first trip outside what was the former soviet union. leaders from africa and south america are also due to be in attendance. earlier, i spoke to economist intellince unit's china director, mattie bekink, who told me how around the world, there are mixed feelings about the belt and road initiative. i think you're exactly right. how you view the last ten years colours how you view it. so we expect china to tout the pri as a gift of the world that has created huge economic benefits. —— two. china claims bri investment has created 420,000 jobs in bri countries and 40 million people have been lifted out of poverty thanks to bri generated growth. others see it

as less benign, a political tool they believe is used to boost china's global standing and giving its companies a leg up and giving its companies a leg up globally while saddling poor countries with debt. the one thing we will also see this week is the way in which the bri is changing. china has certainly learned lessons over the last ten years, as have some of the countries that have participated in the bri in different ways.— different ways. with the chinese _ different ways. with the chinese economy - different ways. with the i chinese economy currently different ways. with the - chinese economy currently the way it is, a lack of liquidity and a general slowdown, how do you see this initiative going forward? i you see this initiative going forward? ~' ., you see this initiative going forward? ~ ., ., forward? i think one of the interesting _ forward? i think one of the interesting challenges - forward? i think one of the interesting challenges for. interesting challenges for china at the moment, particularly as china has learned that lending without risking assessments —— risk assessments in the global south, has posed some challenges. this is not unlike what new lenders have experienced elsewhere, debt repayment can be collocated. the churn democrat challenge with china's domestic economy is that they are saddled with large amounts of debt, so china

really cannot forgive debt in zambia or sri lanka if they can't do the same in any of their problems is at home. so i think that's one kind of foreign and local tension for china. the other piece we are seeing is cognizant of china's overall muted growth is the tightening of the belt. you've already heard xi jinping tightening of the belt. you've already heard xijinping use the word that they are looking for small and beautiful projects, closer to home in southeast asia. what's small and beautiful cosmic small amounts of investment, but also beautiful being strategically important for china. h0??? beautiful being strategically important for china. how do you resond important for china. how do you re5pond to _ important for china. how do you respond to the _ important for china. how do you respond to the other _ important for china. how do you respond to the other side - important for china. how do you respond to the other side which | respond to the other side which has cited concerns over this initiative, saying this isjust another way for china to increase its influence in an argument that's been taken by a lot of the western nations? i think the truth is what we've seen is china do what a lot of other advanced economies have done, and you can't say that

some of the ways in which other countries have engaged... about gaining strategic inventive democrat advantage. one thing bri is not as an aid programme, and one of the thing that's different for china as a creditor is they expect to be repaid. and as i mentioned, they learned some lessons the hard way. in 2010, only 5% of chinese lending via the bri was going to countries in distress. by going to countries in distress. by 2022 that raised to 60%. so china is certainly reassessing its role. what we've seen so far however is an unwillingness to engage in debt forgiveness and i don't think that'll change from china. there are those who say that will inevitably be the case, that just as we've seen when they were talking about the imf or original lending us or when it becomes unsustainable, people will decide to forgive debt. i don't think we will see that with china.

turning to australia and plans there to combat the exploitation of migrant workers. a recent report showed one in six are paid lower than the national minimum wage. but the cases often go unreported, mainly out of fear from the migrants that they'll be punished for breaching their visa rules. phil mercer has more from sydney. an army of temporary workers helps to keep australia's economy moving. more than 1.5 million migrants are on short—term employment visas. many are international students and backpackers. some are exploited by unscrupulous bosses. camilo vargas hernandez is from colombia. for months, he was underpaid working in hospitality in sydney. they exploit me because i don't even know my rights in that moment. i just feel awful. like, they look at me like an idiot. why you pay me less than your other staff? it is not because of me, because of them because they are doing things wrong, not me. overseas workers often fear

that if they complain, they'll be reported by their employer and get into trouble with immigration authorities. migrants are extremely vulnerable when it comes to wage theft. most of them don't understand the legal system. they might not speak the language fluently enough. when they are being exploited, they fear that reporting that situation that they have been exploited might lead to serious consequences such as visa cancellation. the government wants to pass new laws that would give migrant workers in australia more protection and make it easier for them to speak out. but, as it stands, few employers who exploit their staff are caught. it's notjust a problem for migrants. it's estimated that between 3—9% of all workers are paid below the minimum wage. exploitation has been identified in many sectors. for

some companies, workplace exploitation is lucrative. well, many of the businesses that we expose basically have a business model based on exploitation. they know that they can get these young people in, pay them below the minimum rates. i think it trashes our reputation. we know in the groups that we look at, there are people there who are saying, "don't go to australia, go to canada." proposed new laws would make it a criminal offence to deliberately underpay workers. but business groups say the changes would punish companies who make honest mistakes over wages because of complex employment regulations. it's estimated that wage theft is costing workers in australia more than $540 million us a year. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. linkedin has turning to the tech sector

in the us, the social media network linkedin has announced a new round ofjob cuts affecting its engineering, talent and finance teams. around 670 roles will be affected. that's about 3% of its workforce. linkedin said in a statement that cuts were a difficult but necessary and regular part of managing business. the company had already closed more than 700 jobs in may, following similar moves by other tech firms. staying with social media, snap shares jumped 11% on monday, following a report saying the expects to have more than 475 million daily active users in 2024. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. in an upcycling shop in headingley, a transformation is under way. yusephine is using her skill and creativity to help solve a shameful problem. along with her partner, james,

the couple are trying to make fashion more sustainable — starting on their own doorstep. who could forget these shocking images of the tents and camping equipment left behind after leeds festival? hundreds of items treated as disposable and destined for landfill. it was a bit grim, to be honest. a lot of people have a throwaway mindset. but tents aren't single—use — they're very durable fabric that can be used again and again. and when i sawjust how much stuff had been left behind, it was really shocking. along with other charities and upcyclers, james retrieved tents and sleeping bags to make into something new. so we've got a laptop case, bum bag. we've got what we call a festival bag — it's supposed to be worn over your shoulder like that. it's an interesting, exciting opportunity for us because we've not worked without kind of material before.

i've worked a lot with cotton and silk in the past, because that's usually the second—hand material we find and reuse. so i find the whole experimentation process of it very interesting. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hi, i'm ellis with the catch up. first, thousands of people have been gathering in gaza close to the border of egypt in the hope of leaving the territory. the rafah crossing remains closed and was hit by an air strike on monday. elsewhere, the israeli military says it now believes 199 people are being held hostage after hamas gunmen infiltrated israeljust over a week ago, killing more than 1,400 people. over 2,700 people in gaza have been killed. the prime minister says six uk citizens were among those killed in israel. two british sisters are among those missing from israel.

the mother, who is british and born in the uk, was murdered by hamas. some other stories now... 30 organisations are urging the government to pass a bill to ban no—fault evictions. the bill would remove the right to evict tenant for no reason with only two months�* notice. the government says it will resume progress soon. coca—cola has unveiled plans to make bottle tops from carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere. it's funding a three—year trial at swansea university as part of a target for an net—zero emissions by 2040. and 11 kilos of suspected cocaine was found in an electric wheelchair in hong kong over the weekend. the haul is estimated to be worth over £1 million. time now to leave you with ten seconds of disney. the entertainment giant

and studio behind many of our favourite cartoon characters and films turns 100 today. you're all caught up. bye for now. hello, and welcome to sportsday with me, paul scott.

here's what's coming up... the battle for control of manchester united, what a stake forjim ratcliffe's ineos would mean for the club and its future. five new sports are approved for the 2028 olympics — squash, cricket, lacrosse, flag football, and baseball or softball are all in. and australia secure their first win at this year's cricket world cup. hello there, welcome along to sportsday. for almost a year, the ownership of manchester united has been in the spotlight following the glazer family announcing they were considering selling the club. this weekend, talks broke down with sheikh jassim of qatar, who was behind a £5 billion

bid, paving the way for british