fight them by ready to row be well on the way to reliable renewable solar wind i'm optimistic. we're not perfect you say it's p.c. . to. be aware of the r word germany reserves statistics showing its economy contracted in the 2nd quarter but chancellor come back and says it's too soon to worry about a recession also coming up the united states postpones tariffs on chinese goods as beijing releases new figures show the economy still booming. i'm chris colfer welcome to the program europe's biggest economy is running out of steam and fears of a recession are growing germany's gross domestic product contracted 0 point one

percent in the 2nd quarter according to fresh government figures that follows a slide expansion of 0.4 percent in the 1st quarter the figures increase are likely to increase the calls for an economic stimulus package something german chancellor angela merkel is so far opposing. of all sectors it's the hitherto invincible industrial sector that's begun to drag on germany's economy for years it's been the driving force behind the recovery but no longer german industrial production in june 29000 was 5 point 2 percent down on june last year that's the largest reversal since the global financial crisis and recession 10 years ago. exports of also long been a pillar of the economy also a thing of the past right now germany's exports in june 29th were shocking 8 percent lower than in june 28th. industrial companies are dealing with

a number of factors the trade war between the us and china is exerting a drag on the global economy fee is also surround brags that the u.k.'s impending departure from the e.u. germany's energy transition the switch to sustainable energy sources is still very much work in progress and adding to the country's woes its flagship auto industry is struggling with home troubles they include the notorious diesel emissions scandal the conversion to electric drive systems and problems with digitalisation in general. all these issues are combining to weigh on overall economic output. and with the outlook not appearing too promising either it could well be that the e.u.'s number one economy is heading steadily towards recession. let's bring in our. stock exchange our financial. anetta

a contraction of german g.d.p. and the 3rd quarter no growth at all in the 4th quarter of last year followed by a slight expansion at the beginning of the year now contraction again tell us more about the pressure that the german economy has been facing for well months now. yes clearly german is one of the biggest wake of a trade war between china and the united states because we all know about german and cynics trimboli open economy very much depending on exports and the trade environment and if the trade in moment goes down or is actually deteriorating that is felt across the board in germany and that's exactly what happened in the in the 2nd quarter if you read through the press release of the statistical off it's clearly trade which is weighing on the german economy actually consumption is so private consumption household consumption is still doing quite well and it's a fact actually stadol izing the german economy as is according to the statistical

office also government spending but exports a huge drag on economic activity in the country specially the construction sector but also manufacturing as we know is not doing very well currently because everybody's waiting until the trade conflict is eventually resolved until they start to invest in capital goods again so i'm going to briefly should we be worried about a recession. but we don't know yet because clearly we've had certain dips in the in the past as well the 3rd quarter of last year saw a little bit of a deficit negative growth so it's too early to call that a recession but we have to be very vigilant because clearly the manufacturing weakness could well spill into a weakness in the service sector into the labor market then we're headed towards a recession here in germany that's clear on the 1st bus in frankfurt thank you. now

in a rare step to deescalate his ongoing trade war with china u.s. president donald trump has backed off his temper 1st deadline for 10 percent tariff on remaining chinese imports is the trumpets the name duties on phones laptops toys and other consumer goods stock markets again in the aftermath of the decision investors hope that the delay in terrorists will make for better u.s. holiday sales. and china says it's seen an uptick in foreign investment for the year through july the fresh figures can be seen as a way for beijing trying to paint a positive picture of an economy that is under pressure now the chinese commerce industries that foreign direct investment grew 3.6 percent to $78800000000.00 now more than $24000.00 new foreign funded enterprises were funded during that period the report highlighted germany and south

korea as increasing their investments the numbers are somewhat selective though the ministry didn't release investment growth from the united states a figure missing from the data for the last 2 months the numbers from hong kong also absent that's usually china's largest source of outside investment and also a mention the number of companies leaving china those would include south korea samsung japan's limpets and absent which have recently closed factories in china now for more on the story let's cross over to our correspondent in taipei saying. good to see you what's going on with the chinese economy on the one hand we see many indicators deteriorating going down not the same time there are these positive figures on foreign direct investment give us your take on that. well chris you are right the chinese economy is

a bit complex all these indicators have very different meanings depending on how they are presented and we know like for a centralized government like china they tend to penta rosy pictures to its people for example when china claims that g.d.p. growth more than 6 percent of the actual number could be fos mole or even negative so we have to be really careful to read the governments report together with a 3rd party figure to understand the whole picture of chinese economy you know on that notion of being careful when reading these official releases figures of investments conducted by the united states and hong kong and these companies are suddenly missing in this report what could be behind what we can link the mist in data to the u.s. and china trade war and hong kong's reason on rest the u.s. figure has been actually missing for the past 2 months and it's even weirder for

hong kong not to be listed in the data because hong kong is the largest source of foreign investment for china we don't know the real reason behind it but one thing we're sure is that both figures are listed in the data the report won't look nice it is now. foreign direct investment is up as china's government claims isn't that contradictory to u.s. president donald trump's claims saying thousands of companies are leaving china. well as we said we have to question the figure and question the chinese officials claim that everything's under control because we do see international companies leaving china and move their production line to other countries these companies are big names like sam saw an abstainer and olympus so the leading tremain not be as horrifying as donald trump pictures but it's definitely happening and beijing has

come up with more stimulus facts to counter affect. the drug war going on with united states. duties do these stimulus efforts do their work. well now really if we look at the monetary data for july the new loans and lending ins are going down and we see like the real as they go is slowing and infrastructure regulations is stricter so the chinese government really have to come up with new measures in this continued trait war suzanne hand thank you. and not some of the other global business stories making the news wages in the u.k. rose at their fastest pace since 2008 with employment reaching a record high in the 2nd quarter of this year earnings grew faster than inflation that left consumers with

a bit more to spend despite the positive numbers concerns over the brakes and continue to weigh on the u.k. economy media giant viacom and c.b.s. will merge to form a 30 $1000000000.00 entertainment conglomerate ending years of talks owns the movie studio paramount and t.v. comedy central m.t.v. analysts say the merger will allow the new company to compete with streaming services nearly a 3rd of portugal's gas stations are completely out of fuel or have run partially dry as fuel tanker drivers had been striking for 2 days the drivers who are demanding better salaries and working conditions agreed to go back to work but said they wouldn't do extra time their 2nd walkout this year has raised the specter of severe problems during portugal's busy tourist season. the national guard is keeping field at post safe and it's giving convoy protection to petrol and diesel shipments to ensure basic supplies reach filling stations and airports. on the 1st

day of the strike the government designated it a national emergency effectively making participation a criminal offense the dangerous goods drivers union thinks that scandalous. we're going to attack we saw under the dictatorship where we fought for our rights with this democracy but the government is clearly ignoring our rights will be unstable without glad i'm interested in portugal's labor ministry saw no alternative but to clamp down because even on the 1st day of the strike feel supplies could no longer be guaranteed. that indeed the other 2 issuers are taught sound airports as well as other sectors which are essential to society were threatened if it is to be as a new way and it was about ensuring calm and normality. lisbon's main market is a kind of social seismograph for the whole country that handles goods from portugal's north and south of michael brown's is one of its main traders he says the 2nd

strike day has been somewhat easier than the 1st. customer support twice as many goods on the 1st day because they were frightened there might be any fuel available on the 2nd. and that wraps up this edition of detail the business for more you can always go ahead and check out our website at www dot com or simply follow us on social media i'm chris bowen thanks for watching and have you solved it successful.

what secrets why behind the small. find out mercy of experience and explore a fascinating cultural heritage sites. d w world heritage for 60 just. fine it's certainly the tourist guide for germany's booming i love berlin.

50 nations 50 story and 15 very personal tips on berman's very best features. book now planet firmly our hero max series every week on d w. greetings from berlin and welcome to arts and culture well today we'll meet a composer who invites us to experience music as a physical presence rebecca saunders will be joining me in the studio and we've also got these stories lined up. in a new series on european landmarks we start with one that encompasses the very essence of france and the city of light the eiffel tower in paris. and taking up some slack at the end of the show get ready for the amazing feat of

a stony and slack line or. well she's one of the most compelling composers working today london born rebecca saunders who lives and works here in berlin and her competent compositions turned the whisper the shimmer and funder of sounded to something almost tangible and she invites us to focus on minute creations of timber and of course the symbiotic relationship between musician and instrument challenging to play and fascinating to listen to.