fans and influencers hope the app will get a reprieve ahead of a us ban on sunday. welcome to business today, i'm lukwesa burak. we start in china where economic growth slowed last year to its weakest outside the pandemic in well over three decades. the world's number two economy has been struggling since its post covid recovery fizzled out and there could be worse to come. let's just show you the numbers. china's economy grew 5% in 2024 according to official data released earlier. that's down from 5.2% in 2023. economists polled by reuters expect growth to keep slowing to 4.5% this year.

compare that to the peak before the global financial crisis when china's economy was growing at a rate of more than 14%. so what's going wrong? our asia business correspondent, sura njana tewari, is following the story. there are countries around the world that will go to great lengths for a 5% growth figure, but as he laid out this is actually one of the slowest rates of growth in several decades in china. this comes against the backdrop of a very real slow down, a protracted property crisis, hyatt local government debt, weak demand, and therefore, low spending. the last three months of last year saw a pick—up with their last quarter it seeing a growth of 5.4% compared to the previous year. that is largely because china's leaders seemed to realise how serious this is,

implementing stimulus measures to try and boost growth. there has been some success, retail sales, a measure of consumption, rose 37% last month, accelerating from the 3% pace in november. even that property sector saw signs of recovery as a new home prices studied in decemberfor the studied in december for the first studied in decemberfor the first time sincejune 2023. i have been speaking to a number of analysts who all said that stimulus will only be a temporary measure. leaders need to address more structural issues, there is also a weakening concurrency and high unemployment, which leaders are having to contend with. beijing has rarely missed its growth targets in the past, and it is really important for the country to ensure growth and continued prosperity to maintain social stability. plus, there might be more trouble ahead, as he said, one major driver of last year's growth was experts. they could

lose steam because incoming us president donald trump has proposed tariffs on $500 billion of chinese goods, which is rattling markets and businesses. growth in 2025 might be a very different story altogether. here in the uk, shop sales unexpectedly fell in the run up to christmas due to a �*very poor month' for food sold in supermarkets. sales fell by 0.3% in december, according to official figures that's well below expectations of a 0.4% rise. 0verall food sales sank to their lowest level for more than ten years, but clothing shops and department stores saw a boost in trade. joining me now is catherine shuttleworth, ceo and retail analyst at savvy marketing. catherine, lovely to have you with us. so, just break down the figures and the sectors.

what is all this telling us? the complicated figures, because the way these figures are calculated needs to be adjusted. to you and me and people on the street, what we want to know is, did we spend more in december this year than we did last year? and actually, in cash terms, retail has tapped more money because a black friday happened in december, not in november, like it did last year. 0verall, look at the retail figures, it did last year. 0verall, look at the retailfigures, this december versus last december, sales were up about 6%. at this is about the seasonal adjustment and i think what it reflects is, people are being very cautious about when they buy, they are buying on the oak and that is why we are seeing things like clothing going up in december, because of black friday and the discounts available. people spread their food shop out, where there were deals at the beginning of the christmas season rather than right at the end. 50. christmas season rather than right at the end.— right at the end. so, “umping forward to h right at the end. so, “umping forward to april, _ right at the end. so, jumping forward to april, because - right at the end. so, jumping | forward to april, because that is when we start to see the

budget measures implemented... what are you expecting to see when it comes to our spending habits then?— when it comes to our spending habits then? well, what we are exectin: habits then? well, what we are expecting to — habits then? well, what we are expecting to see _ habits then? well, what we are expecting to see is _ habits then? well, what we are expecting to see is a _ habits then? well, what we are expecting to see is a slowdown| expecting to see is a slowdown in spending, people are being super cautious about spending too much money and waiting to see whether the economy picks up. consumer confidence has been really knocked in the last couple of months, there has obviously been much discussion about the state of the economy and itjust means that we will spend less. when we combine that with the national insurance changes that will come into play in april, retailers will be looking at how they can save their costs. because most retailers biggest single cost is employing people. and we expect to see a lot of people being moved out of the retail sector and an increase of employment in those areas. it is going to be a very tough time ahead and i think retail is bracing itself for that. . ~ , ., retail is bracing itself for that. . .

that. thank you so much. 0k, one of the _ that. thank you so much. 0k, one of the big _ that. thank you so much. 0k, one of the big stories - that. thank you so much. 0k, one of the big stories coming| one of the big stories coming out of the us... let's focus on us china tensions because the us supreme court is expected to rule later on whether to uphold a law banning tiktok in america on grounds of national security unless its chinese owner sells off its american operations to a non chinese buyer. as it stands tiktok will be banned on sunday, just a day before president elect trump's inauguraton. many of the 170 million americans who use tiktok are hoping a ban can be averted. the bbc has been hearing from two influencers who have built their careers on the app. i don't think creators' voices are being heard, i don't think these business are being heard that could be affected by this. i think these decisions are being made at such a high level where you

just feel left out. you kind of feel powerless. even though it's something that's so important, it's truly a lifeline for a lot of people, i don't think that's being taken into consideration as much as you would think it would be. it's why i am where i am today and why i am pursuing art and entertainment in new york to this day. brands and companies, when they want you to do advertisements, they would want it to be on tiktok. so indirectly, tiktok was the majority of my income, yeah, because all brands want their stuff to be permitted on the app. —— promoted on the app. i've been someone who has been on instagram primarily— and tiktok and the audiences do not transfer as much as i you think they would. i know people have hundreds of thousands of tiktok - followers and maybe only 10,000 instagram followers. _ which i know is still a decent chunk but it is not _ a survivable amount as a

creator _ a survivable amount as a creator if _ a survivable amount as a creator if that _ a survivable amount as a creator if that is - a survivable amount as a creator if that is your - a survivable amount as a | creator if that is your only source _ creator if that is your only source of _ creator if that is your only source of income. - influencing, modelling, it's woman—dominated fields, so tiktok is putting a lot of money into women's pockets, so i would hate to see that go. people are finding community, people who never really had a voice are sharing their stories, so i would hate to see all of that go. the world bank has warned that rising trade tensions pose the biggest risk to the world economy this year. it's forecasting global growth of 2.7 % but says plans by president elect trump to hit imported goods with tariffs could put a dent in that figure. jonathanjosephs has been talking to the bank's deputy chief economist ayhan kose. the prospect of new us tariffs on its biggest trading partners could reshape the global economy this year. as central banks continue to grapple with interest rates and inflation, strong economic growth would help. i put it to the world

bank that its forecast was for the joint weakest growth since the joint weakest growth since the 2008 financial crisis. economic growth is stable. 2.7%, you can live with that, but the issue is that it is not sufficient enough. to basically make progress when it comes to the type of needs people need in advanced economies, in low income countries, we need higher growth. and when you look at it over a longer time period, growth numbers will come down. period, growth numbers will come down-— period, growth numbers will come down. that worries us. does that — come down. that worries us. does that mean _ come down. that worries us. does that mean that - come down. that worries us. does that mean that living i does that mean that living standards are going to continue to be squeezed all over the world? i to be squeezed all over the world? ~ , world? i think the big challenge _ world? i think the big challenge we - world? i think the big challenge we see, . world? i think the big i challenge we see, living standards can continue basically improving, but not at the pace we saw in the past. we are concerned about the low income countries, we are not seeing enough growth in these economies to basically close the income gap with advanced

economies. in fact, the income gap with advanced economies. infact, in the income gap with advanced economies. in fact, in a the income gap with advanced economies. infact, in a number of cases we see these countries are becoming poor relative to advanced economies on a per capita basis. that is worrying, because these are the countries that are going to bring this masses of young people to the global labour force.— global labour force. what are our global labour force. what are your three — global labour force. what are your three biggest _ global labour force. what are your three biggest fears - global labour force. what are your three biggest fears for l your three biggest fears for the global economy and growth in 2025? i the global economy and growth in 2025? 4' in 2025? i think the three bi est in 2025? i think the three biggest fears... - in 2025? i think the three biggest fears... numberl in 2025? | think the three i biggest fears... number one in 2025? | think the three - biggest fears... number one is this possibility of escalating trade tensions between major economies, numbertwo, you economies, number two, you know, economies, numbertwo, you know, the policy uncertainty going up and the consequences of that for investment. and number three, of that for investment. and numberthree, of of that for investment. and number three, of course, we are really worried about possibility of financial stress if interest rates remain... that challenge has become even larger for emerging developing economies. larger for emerging developing economies-_ economies. when it comes to those potential— economies. when it comes to those potential us _

economies. when it comes to those potential us tariffs, - those potential us tariffs, there are various scenarios laid out in your report saying that they will have a negative impact on the global economic growth. does that not tell us that they are the biggest threat to global economic growth? threat to global economic urowth? �* , , ., threat to global economic urowth? , ., . growth? anytime you introduce restrictions— growth? anytime you introduce restrictions on _ growth? anytime you introduce restrictions on trade, _ growth? anytime you introduce restrictions on trade, there - restrictions on trade, there will be adverse consequences. and those consequences are most often borne by the country that introduced those consequences. but the big issue is that for us to be able to basically provide quantitative assessment of these tariffs we need to know how much the tariffs are going to increase and we need to know what other policies there are going to be. i think there are going to be. i think there is the possibility of other countries reacting to these tariffs, in fact, when they react, the cost of the global economy is even larger. new restrictions are making the global economy ever more fragmented, so the choices politicians make are said to have a huge impact in the year

ahead. and just before we go, to bring you a little bit of extra news... former bank of canada and bank of england governor mark carney has announced he wants to be the next leader of canada's governing liberal party. if he wins, the 59—year—old will succeed prime ministerjustin trudeau and lead the country into the next general election, which will take place this year. and that is it for myself.

hello, let's start with the action at the australian open, where the two—time champion naomi 0saka is out. she was forced to retire injured from her third round match against belinda. she began to struggle with an abdominal injury late

in the opening session and then she decided to call it a day before the start of the second set. as far in the women's draw, the top seed continued her bid for a third consecutive title in melbourne with a victory over denmark's clara. the 26—year—old belarusian it was made to work for her 7—664 victory on the arena. she secured the win in two hours and six minutes. she secured the win in two hours and six minutes.— and six minutes. she played incredible _ and six minutes. she played incredible tennis, _ and six minutes. she played incredible tennis, i - and six minutes. she played incredible tennis, i really i and six minutes. she playedl incredible tennis, i really had to put her altogether to get that win, i would say mentally mostly. i was trying to put her under pressure, iwas mostly. i was trying to put her under pressure, i was trying really hard and i was thinking wow, that is tough. and... he over the years i struggled a lot with different staff and i think all of those difficult experiences made me really

tough person.