also on the show, a closely watched survey shows german businesses are feeling more optimistic about the future, even as they say the present is less than ideal. this is d w business. i'm janelle demona on welcome. china's top diplomat wang, he says, his country's relations are solid as rock in moscow where he is needing rushes. foreign minister, sergey flavor of the chinese official has been discussing security in the asia pacific region and the war and ukraine with russian counterparts. his visit to moscow comes after washington said that china is finding to step up support of russia's war on ukraine. it warned such a move and would prompt washington to target chinese firms and financial institutions if they materially support russia so. so hon is our bureau chief ins. hi pay a welcome. how likely is it that china will face sanctions for supporting russia?

well, it's a likely that china will become an alliance with russia in this war because it's not in china's interest. earlier this year, china's dress that the relationship between china and russia is based on no alliance, no confrontation, and no targeting of 3rd parties indicating that the relationship with russia is kept at a distance. however, we see baby and still supports russia, and it gives it diplomatic and ignored mix support, but leaves room for it not to openly sell arms to russia. the 2 sides are acting and taking advantage of each other. china wants to resume investment and trait with you up, so it would be very unwise on to materially support russia and face for the sanctions . you mentioned that it is providing economic support. what is china doing to help russia financially? exactly or following rush us invasion of ukraine a year ago, most western countries imposed severe sanctions on russia, including

a ban on oil imports and exports of high tech products. many western companies have completely cut off their ties with russia and russia. trade with the u. s. u k and e u countries has declined significantly. however, overall trade between russia into china reached a reco level in 2022 up by 30 percent year on year. both rush us imports from and exports, especially oil and gas to china, grew. china now becomes moscow's most important, trained partner by a large margin. now china, of course, seems to be trying to balance its political support for russia, with its economic need to get things going again after the cove had lockdown. how is it managing that or jail as a war, drags on beijing's losses increase as a u. as in europe increasingly view china as a strategic competitor, bady has suffered the facts of multilateral export controls, investment restrictions, and other measures that could hinder its long term growth prospects. the emphasis

on no alliance as i mentioned, indicate that aiden is, are slightly adjusting his policy towards russia. now, many china experts downplayed previous official statement that china friendship with russia has no limit. then it was a, a rhetoric statement that should not be taken literally. eventually, what matters to beijing is still it's on economy. so some hand reporting for us anti pay. thank you very much. businesses in germany are feeling more upbeat about the future. that's according to the closely watched e f o business climate index, the survey of manufacturers, builders, wholesalers, and retailers. the index registered a $91.00 points in february, up from 90 point to the month prior, making the 5th mit marking the 5th consecutive monthly increase, lower wholesale gas prices as well as china lifting coven restrictions help fuel that optimism. but that bright outlook is balanced out by

a dim review of the present the induct showing how german business currently views business conditions has dropped for the 2nd month in a row. robert lehman from the eco center for macro economics and surveys is here with us. thank you very much. now, how do you explain this split between the optimism for the future and a decidedly less rosy view of the present? thank you for having us, as you stated correctly. the future is much broader concerning to our firms and we expect that the german weakness will not last less that longer with indicators of 2023. however, as you mentioned it, the business situation is not that good as in january, which leaves us with the conclusion that germany was facing a mild, but not severe recession in the 4th quarter of 2022 and the 1st quarter of 2020 free. so are you saying that this optimism might not actually be translated to

hard data? no, we guess, i guess the, the optimism for the future will translate into future of good performing hard data . there are 2 things that we would, that we might expect. the 1st one is that, especially private consumption expenditure will increase in the course of the year because the inflation pressure gets down and a 2nd think is best german manufacturing firms still have a high stock of current orders together with a loss or a decrease in supply chain bottlenecks we will see indicators of the year that also manufacturing production will increase. but there is a difference between the economy not flowing and the economy rebounding strongly. whereas germany, than along that spectrum. i guess it's not, it's not the rebound that we might could have expected based on the corona crisis.

however, if inflation pressure gets down and we also expected the e, c, b will arise, its interest rates. this will be good for, especially for consumers. and then we could slowly adopt to the, to the, to the latest growth path. and then the full potential of to germany economy will recover into in 2024. i guess. thank you. robert lehman from the eco center for macro economics and surveys there with us. thank you very much. south africans had suffered years of ruling power caught, but just recently things have gotten much worse. earlier this month, the country's government declared a state of disaster with energy utility, as calm in deep crisis, left quite literally in the dark. many south africans are wondering when the electricity struggle blend. forced to so by candlelight fraser. caswell, a seamstress and cape towns, mitchell's plane township has had to give up a lot of her clients due to rolling power outages that have become

a part of life across south africa. couldn't take a look. so it was just home, but i never disappointing. so i always try to finish up. we us, so i mean, it's close with south africans left out a 10 hours a day without electricity because of rolling blackouts by struggling state utility, ask arm. the city of cape town aims to have power cuts for its residents by 2026. are you congruent economy with a poem? so we would not be having this discussion as a city, if it is come, was working if the state monopoly was working. but like many segment of police around the world, it is not working, it is very ineffective. it has not invested adequately. it is very bloated. it is very, very corrupted, as at the center of south africa stood capture scandal of the last few years. so it does require moving away from cape town, issued a $200.00 megawatts or energy tender last year and expects to follow with another.

in the next few weeks, officials planned to procure up to 500 megawatts from private power companies by 2026 to provide roughly a 3rd of this city's annual electricity needs. other cities, including johan iceberg, are looking at issuing similar contracts with private power companies and sore energy tenders. but there are major challenges. for example, so far it's mainly just large businesses and wealthy residents who can afford to install solar panels. alternative energy companies now want to help low income households against the sunni, able to get in the city. and it is work that we do with the dressmaker phase. that caswell hope. so one day, she will also be able to afford solar panels to easy impact of the persistent outages. now to some of the other global business stories making news,

china's tourism sector is expected to rebound sharply. this year, the end of aging 0 coven strategy allowed chinese people to travel freely. after nearly 3 years of restrictions, domestic tourism could reach $580800000000.00 and recover to about 71 percent of 2019 levels. according to data from the china tourism academy. more than 20 percent of the energy produced in the u between march last year and january came from wind and solar energy. according to a report by amber climate. it says the surge and renewable energy production a lower the need for gas imports, allowing the block to save $12000000000.00 euros. here is a little known fact alongside france and italy. lebanon is one of the oldest wine regions in the world with $300.00 days of sunshine a year. the country offers the best conditions for wine production,

even alongside conflict and hardship in some regions. i make my way from the mediterranean to the hinterland through lebanon's book har. plateau is controlled by terrorist militias, drug traffickers, and arm smugglers. at the same time, it's the country's most fertile region and home to a millennia old tradition. video culture. when we arrive at chateau co freya, the harvest is just beginning. it's hot. they have to finish before noon. winemaker fabrizio becto always lends a hand so it can get done in time. but help with this winery has belong to a lebanese family for generations. but when frenchman fab please you belk toll came to visit here 15 years ago, he fell in love with the area and it's wine. the family took him in, allowing him to stay and eventually making him the head. winemaker is even as

a classic offers my lovely bodies culture, wary much when we come together, work together. when there are problems, we always want solutions to give them what i and that's what council, what makes the culture here for. thank you. for breeze now speaks perfect arabic, lebanon has become his 2nd home, as it has for his harvest workers, only for different reasons, like fleeing the war in syria, or having a good connection with boss, for breeze. the joint tea ceremony with his friend matched her is a cherished ritual. ah, again, this is what we like means to me. this is what's important to me. what is the problem? after all, is that dwarf has become clean and antiseptic in a funny way. people are afraid of the smallest ant, but living in harmony with nature, that's actually right. am beachfront a troop of recess, proud to be able to continue lebanon 6000 year old wine making tradition as

a european. and at the same time, training young lebanese, like eli, that can target the situation with us live on, on his so bad as far as our reputation fee. right? so it's good to have at this one beautiful thing about him on, on stands for wine as a good ambassador. that's your mission here, and otherwise crisis ridden lebanon, that's our show from our check out d, w dot com slash business. thank you for watching with with

ah, imagine that you're eating a hamburger and as you're biting into this juicy burger, your dining companion says to you, actually that hamburger is not made from house. it's made from golden retriever's natural. 2 2 2 necessary. 2 normal. 2 the next episode of our documentary series, the great debate in 30 minutes on d. w. the ancient pharaohs are up to their necks in water. 60 years ago, egypt, snow river with deanda temples, thousands of years old, are facing destruction. the solution aggressive conservation and

a thick tackler rescue mission to feed the temples on the nile in 75 minutes on d w. noon. should we oh, how do we treat animals and why this is actually a clear violation of animal protection? why do we love some as companions while eating others? yet i never thought about how strange it was that i could to pat my dog with one hand while i ate a pork chop with the other. what is the alternative? and how does it taste? it's like the real thing. yeah. will we all be vegan, and 50 years? i've seen very few strong arguments to keep eating out of

a documentary series about the future of food with the great debate this week on d. w. ah, ah ah, this is dw why, but from berlin vladimir putin issued a rally and called to russians to back the war in ukraine, speaking in moscow shortly before the 1st anniversary of the invasion curtain describes frontline russian troops as defenders of the fatherland. joe biden wrapped up a.