>>reporter: this week on world business p how trade between china and russia is warming up in the frozen north. p why india is contemplating a push for nuclear power at a time when the rest of the world is worried. p >>it is not as unsafe as its critics claim. it is not 100 per cent risk free, no form of energy ev is. p >>reporter: and the huge new port complex planned in kenya, which could open the county up to global trade, but faces resistance from locals.

p >>the level of investment that are going to be there is going to be very huge and if you look in terms of employment, it will be a huge employment that is going to be created. p >>reporter: hello and welcome. i'm raya abirached and this is world business, your weekly insight into the global business trends shaping our lives. after a hundred years of mistrust - and, at times, conflict - china-russia relations appear to have entered a new era of co-operation. they've settled bitter border disputes, struck huge energy deals and ditched the dollar in favour of their own currencies in bilateral trade.

p >>reporter: even in the deep mid winter - at minus 20 degrees celsius - enthusiasm abounds, in china's far north-east. p relations with russia - on the other side of the frozen heilongjiang - have warmed in recent years. p and for these winter swimmers in heihe, military tensions, even conflict, now appear history. p two hundred metres from the river, ding chuanfang sells russian furs, chocolate and other signature items. twenty years ago when she opened her shop, heihe was an isolated backwater. now, it 's a key trading hub and gateway to the arctic - fuelled by good business links with neighbouring blagoveshchensk (pronounced blago-vesh-chensk). p >>chuanfang: this is very important and makes the city more prosperous. here, it's a border city with few people.this has helped increase the population and helps business - and the development of every sector ofthe economy. p >>reporter: while russia is strong on timber, oil, gas and heavy goods that china's

industry needs, it's weak onmanufacturing everyday items for consumers. so heihe - a small city of 180,000 souls - is a magnet for those within easy reach of the border p >>mackie: p a quarter of a million russians stream into heihe every year - mainly to buy consumer goods that arefar cheaper here than on the other side of the heilongjiang river. their spending accounts for almost 20 percent of the city's total retail sales - and they also support a vibrant restaurant and entertainment sector. p >>reporter: in the early 1990's much of the trade here was barter: chinese watermelons in exchange for russian fertilizers. business channels developed slowly until 2004 when russians were allowed access to all of heihe, notjust a small island trading zone. then in 2008, as the national governments of china and russia were negotiating a 25 billion dollar oil deal, business and travel procedures at this border region were simplified further.

p >>changxing: the government departments communicate often to discuss how to improve the co-operation between people from both countries and living standards in this border region. p >>reporter: there are areas, however, of political discomfort. p china, which controlled much of russia's far east in the 19th century, allows russians visa-free travel to heihe city - but this isn't offered to chinese crossing to blagoveshchensk. p russia is suspicious of its neighbour's intentions. the far east is vast, resource-rich, underpopulated - and moscow has largely neglected the region for decades. now, an estimated 80,000 chinese do business there and repatriate their profits - which is akin to an economic invasion by stealth. many cross the border at heihe - where traders haul clothes and electrical goods for sale

on the other side; or there's the likes of zhao lijing (pronounced jee-ow lee-jeeng) who awaits her husband's return from a two month working stint. p eight months of the year, she's also a migrant worker in russia's far east. p >>lijing: to get on in life, every country is the same. life in china is good and development is good. becausewe're close to the border, i want to go out and look for opportunities. p >>reporter: and that's what shi liwen (pronounced shih lee-weun) did for 14 years - selling fruit and vegetablesfrom heilongjiang, before establishing this wholesale operation back home in 2008. p it's now heihe's biggest private company - bringing in produce from all over china for russian markets as far as the arctic. these are necessary supplies for normal daily life; and they're also half the cost of european produce. p following a november 2010 inter-governmental agreement to ditch the us dollar in bilateral trade, mr. shi can now do business in rmb (pronounced reun meen bee) or roubles directly - instead

of havingto first change his money into dollars. p >>liwen: now that we can exchange rmb and roubles directly, our company will start doing business in these currencies. it's a stable development for our entprise. it saves us from all the complicated formalities and the extra currency exchange losses. p >>reporter: heihe has actually operated such a simplified currency exchange system for over five years - allowing local shops to accept roubles from russian customers. p most visitors first head for the nearby huge hanger-like buildings which sell almost everything imaginable: electrical gadgets are favourites; as are clothes and sports goods - though it can be difficult to verify authenticity. each trip, the russians can return home with up to 400 us dollars in goods duty free. p xu guangqian (pronounced shoo gwan chee-en), a former farmer from 900 km away, took a gamble and started selling sportswear here eight years ago. he's profited well

from heihe's russia-friendly policies. p >>guanqian: sportswear trader, heihe (in chinese) with good preferential policies and government support, i've made the decision to do business here, bought an apartment here and decided to move all the family here. p >>reporter: at the highly visible consumer level - whether here in heihe or in the markets of russia's far east - much of the money flows into china's purse. p but this is not a zero sum game. p at the macro level, russia's 21 billion dollars in exports to china - including oil, metals and ores- nearly match its imports. and these are strategic supplies - that also represent a form of insurance to preserve the region's political status quo. p >>reporter: the nuclear crisis in japan this year took a heavy toll, not just

on local residents, but on nuclearprogrammes around the world. india is a prime example, with ambitious plans to increase nuclear power from 3 to 40% of energy supply by 2050. but this may now be derailed by farmers resisting land acquisition, and concerns over the safety of nuclear technology. p >>reporte protests against a proposed nuclear plant on india's western coast have turned violent, with one activist killed in police firing. p jaitapur, where the 10,000 megawatt plant is to be built, has seen long-running anger against land acquisition intensify following the nuclear crisis in japan. p >>parwar: we do not want this project here. the children of this village will be affected. the authorities cansay

anything today, but it is always the common man who suffers later. p >>reporter: this resistance has hardened since the japanese earthquake and tsunami that crippled the fukushima plant, forcing a rethink on nuclear safety around the world and calls in india for a halt to atomic expansion. p >>bhushan: one aspect of the learning from fukushima is the engineering design point of view - what failures happened; and that you need not only have just one substitute systems but maybe you need to have multiple power systems, for example, to run your cooling systems - that's what fukushima teaches us. p >>reporter: the town of madban (maadbun) seems very far from fukushima, yet it is near here the french nuclear company areva plans to build the world's largest nuclear facility at a cost of 24 billion dollars. local farmers claim they were not consulted and their land is being acquired at a mere 11,000 dollarsper acre. but officials say they are willing

to increase the compensation, something the villagers now refuse to accept. p >>waghde: this land is the land of our forefathers; we have the authority to manage it but not to sell it. we cannot set up this kind of village anywhere else, with this quality of land around it. so even if the government is ready to offer us huge compensation and relocate us elsewhere, we don't want to leave our village. p >>reporter: ramdas waghdare meanwhile, still tries to cultivate his field that lies inside the project site. he sneaks in when he can, because his family is dependent on the crop. p >>wagdhare: the police tell me my land now belongs to the government and i can't grow my crops there. they stop me from entering my field. p >>reporter: this is just one of the many battles across india between villagers and industrial projects. the government has approved several new sites to build reactors, taking the country's

nuclear sites from 7 to 13. but most of these sites face protests over land acquisition. and now, with the crisis in japan, the government is on the defensive. p kamal nath yes of course it creates a sense of a panic among people and nobody wants a nuclear plant in theirvicinity. that's it but we're not looking at nuclear plants at the course which could be hit by a tsunami. so safety concerns will have to now be relooked at so that people are more reassured and even the government is more cautious. p >>reporter: there are also fundamental questions being raised about the simple economics of nuclear power. p >>bhushan: one of the caution that people in india is asking today is, "is nuclear power cheap as it has been made out to be? what is it from the public money that will go in supporting nuclear power?" so we need to know what it will cost us, just in economic sense. second, what will be the environmental cost of nuclear power?...you know, after all it is a very

water-intensive process - even if we are takingseawater it will have a huge impact on marine ecology because we will be discharging hot water. then there is issue of safety, radiation, waste disposal. p >>reporter: yet there are those who believe recent events have led to the dangers of nuclear power are being blown out of proportion. p >>tinsdale: it is not as unsafe as its critics claim. it is not 100 per cent risk free, no form of energy ever is. but nuclear power is safer than the main alternative in india which is coal power stations because coal stations emit larger amounts of carbon dioxide, the main green house gas which is extmelyunsafe not only for india but for rest of the world. p >>reporter: india has little choice but to add a lot more nuclear power. it suffers from a peak-hour power deficit of about 12 percent that acts as a brake on the growing economy and causes blackouts in much of the country. 500

million of its people still lack electricity. p >>tinsdale: we have to look at not only at what electricity is currently used for but at all energy so oil and heating as well. much of that could and should be running on electricity in the future so that we don't have to burn oil. and to do that we need to get more low carbon electricity including nuclear. so i think that nuclear will have a rising proportion of energy in asia and in the rest of the worlduntil we can be 100 per cent renewable. p >>reporter: but for global nuclear suppliers, india's recent nuclear liability law remains a sticking point. thelegislation limits the liability of a nuclear reactor operator following a nuclear accident to 325 million dollars, and allows lawsuits against the suppliers of the technology. following the crisis in japan, there are now calls in india to increase this liability even further to provide for decontamination and compensation. this could

put even more pressure on foreign suppliers. p >>bhushan the government will have to reduce its ambition on nuclear power. you know, the government today is saying that it will set up 30,000 megawatts, obviously that is not going to happen because of heightened public concern about nuclear power plants. that's point number one. secondly the government will have to put everything in the public domain if it wants to have nuclear power plant, and there must be concerted debate on each and every project, and it must take the consent of people before it can set up projects. it cannot push nuclear power plant in people's backyard anymore. p >>reporter: even if the villagers in madban manage to derail the jaitapur plant, india is unlikely to back down from its broader nuclear ambitions, given its surging power demand and a lack of alternatives. this will come as welcome news to a global nuclear industry reeling from the fallout of the crisis in japan.

p >>reporter: still to come on world business... p with trade booming between east africa and the hot economies of asia kenya is investing heavily in shipping infrastructure. p and we meet the masters of crazy golf as they battle for the world championship title. p small scale but still serious ... and the rest in just a moment on world business... p >>reporter: kenya is in an enviable position. as trade grows between africa and the booming markets of asia, itslocation on the east coast of the continent makes it an ideal transport hub. plans are in place to develop a huge port system which could provide a substantial boost to the economy, but not everyone supports the idea.

p >>reporter: lamu island in northern kenya. the ancient town - a un world heritage site - and pristine beaches are a strong draw for upmarket tourists, but this whole area could soon be swallowed up by a massive new port complex. p >>bakari: the plans of building a second port in this country, and specifically in the area where we are that is lamu county. the fishermen are really worried because the areas they've been using to sustain their livelihood will be definitely be degraded by this dredging activities and physical alterations, sound vibrations and all that. p >>reporter: however it makes economic sense to develop the region. kenya borders resource rich counies like ethiopia, somalia, tanzania, uganda and southern sudan. its access

to the indian ocean makes it an ideal transport hub for trade with india & china. p >>anderson: kenya has made its economy grow in the last ten yes by being a regional hub. if you buy petrol or manufactured goods in southern sudan, in uganda, in rwanda, in burundi even in congo, those goods almost certainly came in through kenya. so the kenyan economy is benefiting enormously from this en troupeau status. p >>reporter: the development plans include a deep-water port and oil refinery on pate island, just north of lamu,together with a military port and complete infrastructure network in northern kenya, including new airports, towns, railways and roads. it's a project that many believe is vital to kenya's economic future. p >>onditi: the level of investment that are going to be there is going to be very huge and if you look in termsof employment, it will be a huge employment that is going to be created. and those onwho want to carry the offshore manufacturing,

so that they can easily get access to the east african community market, they will be able to put up their packaging and finishing products, machineries within the lamu. p >>reporter: the port, kenya's second deep-water facility after mombasa, would be the main gateway for sea-borne trade for not only southern sudan, but ethiopia as well, a potential market of 90 million people. itwould also help form closer ties with the new economic engines of the world. p >>onditi: when you go to import goods from japan, korea, china, you will find most of the china industries will be coming to lamu to put up the investment which will be easily accessible to the east african community and that is the biggest economic revolution that the country is going to get into. p >>reporter: but environmental campaigners are concerned about the impact

of the project especially on marine species living in these waters. the mangroves support crabs, prawns & lobsters that the local fishermenrely on and there is also scepticism that the central government have not been open about the plans. p >>badi: it's only a very, very small clique in the cabinet of the kenyan government that knows actually about this mega port project we have now currently nicknaming this small clique as the small black box because the rest of the cabinet ministers don't even know what's happening. p >>reporter: this apparent lack of transparency has angered local people, who fear their interests will be bulldozed aside. p the indigenous people here have lived off the land for generations, but without title deeds they areeffectively squatters and their concern is that they will simply be turned off

their properties by new investors. p >>swabir: all this land they want to do this to keep this project.. is our land from our grand dads, but we don't have documents and when the government officer come "here's my chamba, yes.." "where is the title?" no title. so how can you be paid for this chamba if you don't have title? you know? p >>reporter: the overriding fact remains however, that the area currently supports only small businesses. the entire fishing industry for kenya only generates around 50 million dollars annually most of which comesfrom inland, fresh water fisheries. p lamu is also only one potential gateway to africa and kenya's neighbours are increasingly competitive. p >>anderson: other countries are developing other outlets. transport systems are being improved through ethiopia,through tanzania; kenya is losing its grip. p >>reporter: it's worth remembering the kenyan economy is only growing at 2.6%, if that is to be improved good

trade links are vital. p >>reporter: crazy golf, a once tired mainstay of the british seaside, is making a resurgence, with dozens of newcourses opening up from seaside to city centre. we caught up with some of the world's top pros at the crazy golf world championships. p >>reporter: the creme de la creme of crazy golf battle it out on the hastings seafront. p founded in 2003, the crazy golf world championships is a key fixture on the international minigolf calendar. where 54 of the world's top players compete for the $5000 prize fund on one of the world's toughest courses... p and despite this little

sport's small scale, it has a global reach. p >>homer: it's been very big in europe particularly in the northern european and scandinavian countries, but you're seeing a lot of interest now in asia and the far east, so the china asian open is the first one that is bringing players from all over the world. p >>aho: in germany it is very popular, they estimate 20 million rounds are played per year by just normal people who go playing minigolf. they have some 5000 active tournament players. finland it's a little bit smaller we have about 200 players. p the huge physical challenges not withstanding, it is a sport that is open to all. the czech republic's olivia prokobova has just returned as runner-up from the us masters: p >>prokobova: czech republic international minigolfer i travel all over the world, usa, china, sweden, many, many

country. p >>reporter: "great. all for minigolf?" p >>prokobova: yes. p >>reporter: what's more, crazy golf is getting a much racier image these days, partly on account of a huge upswing in business. p >>hartley: over the five years it's been a steady increase in numbers that started with the construction of thenew adventure golf. the site has always been popular but since we've built the adventure golf it's taken on a new lease of life and our numbers since 2002 have probably gone up about 50%. p this development is just one of many such new openings over the last two years: p >>milns: crazy golf is as much a part of the fabric of the british seaside tradition as sticks of rock, fish and chips and fairground rides, but today it's new breed of adventure golf courses is not only drawing in new business, but new destinations as well.

p >>homer: we're seeing a lot of new indoor courses in some of the major cities, courses in birmingham, manchester, liverpool, glasgow, bristol. all of which have popped up in the last 12-18 months so a lot of new courses in bringing a lot of new people into the game. p >>reporter: many of which have been built by adventure golf developments in partnership with leading us operator, castle golf. p >>richards: we've done about 10 or 11 over here in the last three years we've been doing three complexes a year,two outdoor, one ouoor is what we've been averaging, with several lined up for next year so hopefully we'll be busy again through next year. p >>reporter: judging by the return on investment that these courses are generating, the future looks assured. p >>richards: you are really looking at $7-$800,000 for a complete 36 hole set up. indoor sites can go a lot more than that because of all the air conditioning, sprinkler systems that are needed. that is a fair bitof

investment to start with but most of the guys we've been doing it for are looking at about 18 months to 2 years return on it and they're doing quite good. p >>reporter: indeed, the numbers are impressive. p >>tomkins: if we are talking the middle of august, we've got three courses running, were going full steam and the weather is looking good, we can get anywhere up to 1500 players but i have to stress you that's in the middle of august when the schools are off... across the season as a whole we are looking at to95, 100,000 players. p >>reporter: but enough of the everyday hackers - what does it take to be a crazy golf world champion? p >>davies: it is being mentally prepared. fortunely i am mentally prepared, and knowing the course. the essential thing when you get the course and start playing is to play the correct weight of shot. that is the essence of all putting in my mind. p >>reporter: wise words, and its advice that even the world's best golfers may like to ponder if they were ever to take up the gauntlet of a crazy golf challenge:

p >>hartley: we've laid out the challenge for tiger woods. he hasn't responded. we reckon that many of our players here in the tournament could take him on miniature golf. ... put some of our top miniature golf players against the likes of tiger woods and lee westwood will be a very interesting concept, yeah. p >>reporter: admittedly that's a long shot, but until then thousands of amateur crazy golfers will be putting [sic] in the practice, from city centres to windswept coasts. p >>reporter: that's it for this week's world business. thanks for watching. we'll see you again at the same time next week.