indeed into how it's not only beijing but also north korea has made a few has sent a few signals to beijing that they are angry with beijing's influence in pyongyang . the beijing is very unhappy about john young's moves to to to to move forward its its nuclear program it wants to take him appearing young people young is wary of influence of beijing so this comes at a moment when probably relations between the two countries are as bad as they have ever been before mathias ballinger standing by in beijing where it is rumored that north korean came jiang might be on chinese soil at this very moment thank you so much mathias and allocate a quick check of some other stories that have been making news around the world polls have opened for day two of voting for egypt's new president incumbent leader abdel fattah el-sisi is expected to win easily but his only challenger the little known stuff. other hopefuls have been either forced out on a rest in the runoff voting will and on wednesday. russian investigators say that blocked fire exits could have contributed to the high death toll in a massive

so a visit here in beijing would probably one of the first of beijing would be one of the first this team nations probably where he would travel considering that this this country is one of his most important allies absolutely so his first trip abroad as leader also it would be if he happened to have had a meeting would be on his first meeting with another head of state if that is indeed what transpired here but you know just tell us about the timing here generally speaking because there's been a lot of diplomatic flurry when it comes to north korea and if it were this wasn't kim jong un who else could it have been and what could they have been doing in beijing. had there is some information leaked by diplomatic sources not really it's not really clear how reliable they are that it might also be his sister now his younger sister she has was the one who represented north korea during the olympics in in south korea earlier this year and seems to be somebody he trusts diplomatic missions to what we can see an ordinary diplomat would not be traveling in a train like this so it seems to b

an official within the party system what he has standing by in beijing for us thank you. now let's get a quick check of some other stories that have been making news around the world the number of children who died in a massive fire at a shopping center in siberia now stands at forty one russian player president vladimir putin says that criminal negligence was behind the blaze that killed sixty four people in total the blaze broke out on the fourth floor of the complex in the coal mining city of kemah rovell on sunday. in france two people have been charged with the murder of a elderly french jewish holocaust survivor the eighty five year old was repeatedly stabbed and her body set alight in her apartment last week in traditional sources says that the crime is being treated as anti semitism. you're watching news still to come on the program it is called a football friendly but there is much more at stake here brazil come to berlin to conquer the demons of their seven one defeat by germany at the twenty fourteen world cup will the defending champions show them any love. pr

brown has more now from beijing or trying there's national people's congress doesn't do surprises so the outcome of this vote was never really in doubt two thousand nine hundred fifty eight delegates voted to amend the constitution there were three abstentions and two opposed to these changes now that is probably a token opposition that's often orchestrated a times like this to give a veneer of transparency but certainly president xi jinping has got his way back in october of course president she's known was in try and in the constitution making him the most powerful leader since chairman mao president xi jinping has one priority right now and that is to overhaul china's communist party to make it fit for purpose but what we're also seeing is not so much a one party state as one man rule president xi jinping is not just president he's also head of the military as well as party chief but a lot of people are asking why the president is doing this now because he's only just into the second term of his presidency he perhaps wants to send a warning to his rivals that isn't to be around fo

we are in beijing. -- since mao. we are in beijing. this is "bloomberg markets: asia ." rishaad: mpc concluding today two weeks in as we get new leadership. xi jinping -- he will be starting off his news conference. he had a news conference in beijing. going to, markets are digest a welter of information through technology, particularly, the stand up for the wrong reasons, haidi. of the interesting comments overnight as we saw the selloff started with facebook sellressing so on all -- on all of those things. if it was not take, it probably would have been politics. another package of tariffs directed at china by the end of this week, and all of course during a week that is already fraught with risk aversion as we go into the fomc meeting, the first under jay powell. aussie shares, japan, south korea lower. chinese markets looking like they are going to kick off under pressure. let's get it over to sophie for a look at the damage. sophie: no friends for facebook or equity bulls. the lossesilding on overnight on wall street. the nasdaq fell for a fifth day, but lower. the

heavy security in beijing with reports that a senior north korean official is in china but there's no confirmation about the identity of the visitor. alone said obama you're watching al-jazeera live my headquarters here in doha coming up in the next thirty minutes the russian president visits siberia where a fire at a shopping center killed sixty four people angry protesters are demanding justice. also it's day two of egypt's presidential elections millions of voting in the contest the incumbent president is set to win and australia's major cricket sponsors are put the national team on notice as cheating scandal escalates. into the program a train reportedly carrying c. the north korean officials has left beijing with still no word as to who exactly was visiting the chinese capital now a large convoy with heavy security was seen on the streets with speculation that it could be north korean leader kim jong un china's foreign ministry has denied any knowledge of the visit china correspondent andrew brown has beijing. well speculation over who this v.i.p. guest might be began circulating

to beijing where he met the chinese president xi jinping there's been a riot at a jail inside a police station in venezuela tear gas was also fired at family members demonstrating outside the facility. they're demanding to know what happened to the prisoners dozens of inmates are thought to have been killed but there's been no official word on the number of dead or what triggered the violence the gunmen have attacked a hotel and killing at least one person injuring two others it happened in the. five man reportedly approached the entrance and opened fire. returned to pakistan for the first time since being shot in the had six years ago she's expected to meet top officials the twenty year old was attacked by the taliban those are the headlines on al-jazeera inside story coming up next they with us. a surprise summit between china and north korea it's all smiles in beijing join ken jong un's first overseas trip as leader and the chinese remind the world that they have a crucial vote on any nuclear and missile talks with donald trump so is the north in a stronger position this as inside s

that train is now in beijing. just left beijing, we understand.t the level of security, the cloak of security which has gone around the visit to the point where just a few minutes ago the spokesperson of the ministry of foreign affairs was asked is kim jong un in beijing. she replied i have no idea. past history suggests we won't have an absolutely clear idea until it is announced officially. that will not happen until the train carrying that mystery person left china. that could be several hours from now. it would at this stage appear to be kim jong un. he needs to talk to china and china needs to talk to kim about the upcoming meetings, particularly between kim jong un and donald trump. china has been a key player in the whole korean nuclear issue. it wants to stay a key issue. north korea's line in this is china. they are still very, very close when it comes to allies and economic lifeline from china to north korea. christine. >> if kim jong un has left the country. it is the first time since his father died in 2011. >>> intense pressure on fac

tom: this is tom in beijing.een surprised by the extent of the pollution crackdown in china. they said they will spend about 20% increase on pollution measures. what are the implications for commodities? >> they will not be pleased. that is what is going to happen with the rest of the world. the strategies, thinking about it, i am happy about that. i am happy about china doing that. the rest of the world will continue to follow. that is where we should all be heading. china has to make sure they are among the leading producers of such energy-saving. it is a win for them as well. david: you are staying with us. tom, out of beijing. it will continue our conversation in a few minutes. we will also be speaking with a philippine secretary live out of manila. that is an exclusive interview. this is bloomberg. ♪ ared: apart from china, we looking at the story developing and italy. we are coming off a live today. the right block winning the biggest seat in the italian legislation. pushing centerleft into third place righ

or more or less bring in our beijing correspondent but. why do people believe that this train was carrying the north korean leader kim jong un well the most striking reason is that it looks exactly like the train that has been carrying his father kim jong il on his state visits he always traveled by this train never by plane there have been high security measures in beijing in all of the areas that are usually used for state visits although no state visit of fishley is taking place at the moment so all of this points to the drawn might be in this train or at least an other high ranking north korean official people have been speculating it might be sister who has been representing north korea at the pynchon's lympics earlier this year and who seems to be trusted by kim jong un to handle international affairs and we were seeing some pictures of the train just there of the of the train from north korea and we saw also motorcade going through the city china has admitted that there was a visit by someone they just haven't said who why all the s

and this is the other camp rallying supporters in front of the government headquarters the poll beijing party's main office used to stabilize home called government so i suppose that these are the government's preferred candidates if they win the opposition will not have the numbers in parliament to block bills or question beijing sections but many here believe these candidates will help the city run smoothly i hope it is a problem i know i keep trying to write so insulting but i think all it takes is a kind of heart of all faiths ok my analysts say this vote is mostly symbolic a victory for the pro-democracy candidates would be an expression of frustration at beijing's increasing interference in hong kong's affairs former colonies macau and hong kong are the only territories in china where the public can directly vote for their government but many here say with beijing becoming more intrusive and pushing for more integration with their. to china voting is increasingly regarded as something that matters less than the pollen are just their own hong kong. and syria government and russian

kim jong un has reinforced beijing's position in these talks beijing is now part of the process again and it is still opinion is most important ally that was the signal going out strongest ninety and if we are to look a bit closer into that say no i mean what role could it be that china would want to play in those talks between the united states and south korea with north korea coming up a bit later well it seems that it will not be directly at the table the more important is for beijing it is to show that no decision can be made without beijing beijing is still the most important economic partner of pyongyang on sanctions against being young will work or not work according to beijing's will and not anybody else's mathias you're there you're based in beijing you're based in china what do you think that all of this says about china's global ambitions. china wants to be seen as a global act of china is. enhanced thing it's global role now this north korea this korean conflict is one of the key points which china has been an important player over the center over the last few decades and

. >>> international intrigue in beijing. a train shrouded in secrecy. motorcades in the streets overnight. is kim jong un in china? good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. we start with the big move from the u.s. 60 russian diplomats have one week to pack up and leave the united states. president trump ordering it as part of the effort with european and other allies. the move is a response to the poisoning in the u.s. k of the double agent and his daughter. senior officials say all of those the u.s. is expelling has been identified as intelligence agents. >> also ordering the closure of the russian consulate near seattle. this is the president's most forceful action so far. not related to the election meddling. this announcement came from the press secretary. the white house would only say this. >> the united states has issued sanctions on key russian oligarchs in the response to the meddling in the 2016 election. i would not close doors. the president doesn't telegraph his moves. >> we should note only one pers

earlier a motorcade brings the center of beijing to a standstill. was. excited office workers captured the moment convinced that it's him kim jong un. but china's foreign ministry spokeswoman was not so sure unable to explain who the mystery visitor might be well. at least i'm not aware of any information at present three further questions about whether kim was in beijing with batted away there would be no big announcement here is it possible that you wouldn't know that but in general news here. everything's off the mark for me i. just really think chile through its you know ten thousand years this seems to me you have more information than i think people tell you and in the house as possible wasn't possible it was. i think we think we were there for you know i suggest you go home and have dinner and carry on with your life she said throughout the day other parts of beijing were also no go areas for journalists including the road close to the state guesthouse where the visiting delegation was stuart to be staying if kim jong un really has been in beijing

warning, this could provoke a trade war and beijing has warning, this could provoke a trade warand beijing warning, this could provoke a trade war and beijing has said it would retaliate should there be such an action. we haven't heard from beijing yet, but in terms of south korea and japan, other countries that will be affected by the move, they seem to be awaiting further details. even though the president has said he will impose these ta riffs next has said he will impose these tariffs next week, nobody knows the detailsjust tariffs next week, nobody knows the details just yet. tariffs next week, nobody knows the detailsjust yet. thank tariffs next week, nobody knows the details just yet. thank you for tariffs next week, nobody knows the detailsjust yet. thank you for now. let's go to italy now, as you've been hearing, the country is gearing up for a general election on sunday. italy has the third biggest economy in the euro area, but it's in pretty poor shape, and that's an issue many voters will be focusing on. in the decade since the 2008 financial crisis italy has been in and out of

a surprise summit between china and north korea it's all smiles in beijing joint camp jong un's first overseas trip as leader and the chinese remind the world that they have a crucial vote on any nuclear and missile towards with donald trump solid as the north in a stronger position this as inside story. they've been allies since the nineteen fifties hundreds of thousands of chinese soldiers are believed to have died in the korean war and the north spin an important offer for china of a sense keeping u.s. troops allied with south korea away from the chinese border but there were nations ships out and as the north's nuclear bomb and to continental missile ambitions expanded under the leadership of kim jong un this year the diplomacy has been high on the north's agenda including groundbreaking visits to the winter olympics south of the border and comes due at summits with both the south korean and american presidents or the north relational ally seemed to be sidelined bought with kim choosing china for his first overseas trip as leader or chinese leaders have a charles to assert their i

it's not clear what made him come to beijing or indeed what incentives he may have been offered to do so but china remains north korea's only real friend and ally so it's fair to assume the president xi jinping might want to know what kim's negotiating strategy will be during his upcoming summit with president trump. and kim's visit made it possible for china to know what north korea will be talking about to south korea and the united states in these discussions on the nuclearization china has also learned what north korea demands will be which will help china will because. it's a visit that would have seemed unimaginable just a few months ago where north korea was ignoring chinese appeals for restraint at an exhibition showcasing some of china's technological achievements the message appeared to be we can help you with all of this if you behave. china's leaders are fond of metaphors that are lavish banquet she told his guest that in the beautiful season of spring everything comes to life kim replied i believe our meeting will yield abundant fruit that could mean making good on his co

the reclusive, antisocial north korean leader showing up in beijing. over the past few years, various pundits have opined that china-north korea relations are at an all-ti low, and the evidence presented was the fact that president xi had yet to host the north korean leader n beijing. well, it took his father, kim jong-il, six years after coming into power to make his first visit to china, late may 2000. why did kim jong-un do that? he had an important summit meeting coming up in two weeks with the south kean leader. for the very same reason, kim iii, after a banner ballistic year last year, feels well-positiod to summon the leaderof the biggest powers and get them to pay up. the timing is perfect for kim jong-un to restore china back to its rightful seat in the region as the center of multilateral negotiations, to pat things up with president xi, and be poised to dictate to south korea d the united states the terms of the protracted negotiations to come. jane: when kim jong-un talks about denuclearization and sayst he is cod to it, does he mean the sa

is there now beijing is abuzz with speculation about the visit of what appears to be a v. vi pay a very very important person there are reports of a convoy with heavy security in the chinese capital and there's talk of a specially trained having rolled into town all right live now to our china correspondent there in beijing who could it be. i wonder you know if you believe japan's media than the mystery guest the mystery v.i.p.'s is now in beijing is none other than the north korean leader kim jong un but as i say it is all speculation now this speculation really reached fever pitch in beijing on monday night when those reports in the japanese media said that a heavily armored train had crossed the friendship bridge between north korea and china in the city of dandong on sunday a train very similar to the one used by kim jong un's father when he visited china a number of years ago that train then apparently arrived at beijing railway station it's the oldest railway station here in beijing then a motorcade a large motorcade was seen going along chang an avenue that's the ma

beijing is increasingly looking beyond its borders toward investments in asia and across the world. their ambitious plans could make china the epicenter of global trade. washington must find new ways to adjust to china's global expansion. china: the new silk road. next on great decisions. (soft music) - [announcer] great decisions is produced by the foreign policy association in association with thomson reuters. funding for great decisions is provided by pricewaterhousecoopers llp. (soft music) - [narrator] chinese history for the past 30 years has been a story of economic growth. - there's never really be an economic revolution quite like china's. the most populous country in the world also enjoying the most rapid economic growth in history. an industrial revolution is far more rapid than in britain or america, for example. - we've never seen so many people come out of poverty so quickly. we've never seen so many people go from the rural countryside into the city so quickly. what had took europe 150 years to do in the industrial revolution, china has done in 30 years. - [narrator]

john sudworth, bbc news, beijing.s he made a public apology for his role in the ball tampering scandal. his news conference in sydney was quickly followed by the australia coach, darren lehmann, announcing his own resignation once the current tour in south africa is over. this from our sports editor dan roan. a warning — there are flashing images in his report. from australian cricket's leader to its loneliest figure. steve smith back in sydney and facing the cameras today, having been sent home in disgrace for his team's cheating scandal. to all of my team—mates, to fans of cricket all over the world, and to all australians who are disappointed and angry, i'm sorry. supported by his father, the former captain's anguish obvious. any time you think about making a questionable decision, think about who you're affecting. you're affecting your parents and to see the way my old man has been... sobbing. thanks, everybody. and my mum, it hurts. smith was banned for a year for covering up a team—mate's use of sandpaper to tam

chinese state media confirms north korean leader kimjong—un did have talks with xi jinping in beijinghis week. nato expels seven russian diplomats over the spy—poisoning in britain — moscow calls it part of a containment policy. president putin calls a national day of mourning for victims of the shopping centre fire but angry crowds denounce local officials. also in the programme... the mona lisa may be allowed to go on tour — the first time it's left the louvre museum in almost half a century. hello. first of all, our breaking news. —— hello. chinese state media has now confirmed the ruler of north korea has made his first foreign trip as leader for talks in beijing with china's president xijinping. there's been much speculation that kim jong—un was on his first trip abroad in seven years, since a special train used in the past by the north korean ruling dynasty was spotted in the chinese capital. steve mcdonell is our correspondent covering this for us. what do you make of it? well, the worst kept secret in china has been confirmed. yes, it was kimjong—un, and all along people have

beijing's skies are a strange colour of late — blue.oxic grey, this winter has brought prolonged bouts of days like these. and here, in part at least, is why. this factory is one of thousands that have been forced to close. they used to make ceramic tiles here. now, the kilns that once belched acrid smoke stand idle. translation: it was all very sudden. there were no meetings or warnings. the inspection team just turned up and shut us down. beijing still sees plenty of days like this but the city's average level of pm 2.5s, the tiny particles that make up these pea—souper smogs, fell by 20% last year. and here's further evidence of the huge political will involved — new gas pipes. hundreds of villages surrounding beijing have been ordered to stop burning coal on such a scale that the price of gas on the international market doubled. beijing's ability to launch its battle for blue skies is, it could be argued, down to its authoritarian advantage, forcing many thousands to switch energy supplies overnight and closing factories at the stro

with a population of around thirty five million almost as many as beijing and shanghai combined chunk shing is china's largest urban area. the few people in the west have actually heard of chunk change but this mega city on the young sea river is a symbol of the economic boom the country has been experiencing for the past thirty years. while growth is tapering off in the major industrial centers of klunk shell and shenzhen chung xing is proving every day a new that it's one of the future engines of china's economic development. growth has long been based on heavy industry with cheap labor from the countryside. but in recent years the megacity has put all its energy behind the giants of the electronics industry. thanks to this transformation can now boast a growth rate in double figures. that our laptops are largely produced in chongqing the one doc company has three factories in china chain with around fifteen thousand employees. and this factory has three thousand two hundred employees. we mainly produce a celeb tops the beach if. you will is that the laptops you buy in france and ge

will never agree to mathias ballinger with the latest from beijing thank you. funerals are being held in russia for the dozens of people killed in a shopping mall fire in siberia over the weekend forty one children were among the more than sixty people who died in qana robel. russia is observing a national day of mourning today with memorials taking place across the country at the grief is mixed with anger many believing that authorities are trying to cover up of lax safety standards that may have contributed to the high death toll. thousands of kilometers apart but hugh knighted in grief people in moscow mourn the dozens of five victims in siberia as camera of this tragedy has gripped russia and caused anger many believe officials are hiding the true extent of what happened on sunday. what is known is that multiple safety violations happened when the blazing gulf the mall people trying to escape found many a marriage in ca blocked the fire alarm didn't sound in the public address system wasn't switched on reports to that children were left locked inside cinema

heavy security in beijing amid reports of a senior north korean official visiting china but there's no confirmation about the identity of the visitor. logs or robyn you're watching al-jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha also coming up in the next thirty minutes vladimir putin visits siberia where a shopping center fire has killed sixty four people as angry protesters demand justice for the loss of lives. also a second day of polls in egypt's presidential election which president of the c.c. is certain to win. and civil rights campaigners mourn the death of linda brown who helped bring an end to segregation in u.s. school it's. good to have you with us welcome to the program beijing is abuzz with speculation about the visit of a senior official from north korea which suggests it could even be the leader kim jong un himself a large convoy with heavy security has been seen in the chinese capital and it's reported a specially armored train also arrived in the city are china correspondent adrian brown has more from beijing. well speculation over who this v.i.p. guest might be be

hello beijing has now confirmed that the north korean leader kim jong un did travel to china for a face to face. meeting with president xi jinping it's kim's first official foreign trip since he came to power in two thousand and eleven speculation of kim's visit began circulating on japanese and south korean media on tuesday that's when a special armored train was seen near the border while it confirmed the visit china's state news agency didn't say if the two sides discussed north korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons which has led to tough u.n. sanctions backed by china let's speak to our china correspondent adrian brown joining us on the phone from beijing so after all the speculation adrian we now do have come for confirmation that it was it was the north korean leader in beijing. that's right there you mean few visits to china have been shrouded in as much secrecy as this one even late tuesday off the new year in beijing china's foreign ministry was continuing to insist the big didn't know who the mystery does it involves which is probably disingenuous to say the least and that since

jong-un, in light of beijing's support of u.n.. xi jinping proposed four different ways they can improve their relationship, but xinhua did not reveal the nature of than four measures, other to say the nations will keep communication channels open. haidi: what do we know in terms of timing, when the summit happens, and the many -- mini-summits leading into that? reva: there are -- >> there are summits leading up to may. moon jae-in, the south korean president, is planning to meet kim jong-un in the demilitarized zone in early april. on april 18, shinzo abe will meet with president trump. perhaps they will concoct a strategy, much like we are assuming xi and xi jinping did. the u.s. will powwow. of course, also learning the state councilor from china, he is a senior diplomat, said to have been in those talks with xi jinping in beijing. he is said to be traveling to seoul tomorrow to brief moon jae-in on what xi and kim jong-un had to say. there are a lot of moving parts here. haidi: a lot of preparation going into this high-stakes

welcome to the program a train reportedly carrying seen the north korean officials left beijing with still no word as to who exactly was visiting the chinese capital and a large convoy with heavy security was seen on the streets with speculation it could be north korean leader kim jong un china's foreign ministry has denied any knowledge of the visit well it's a story with many moving parts and adrian brown hopefully will clear some of those up from our beijing bureau i mean we've been waiting for the chinese to speak adrian have they said anything. yes we attended the main foreign ministry press briefing on tuesday afternoon the foreign ministry spokeswoman watching young said she had an important announcement to make and so we all sat bolt upright i'm all ears and then she told us that the president of zimbabwe would be here in a few weeks time and that the crown princess of thailand would also be her in early april what she didn't want to take questions on was whether kim jong un really was here in beijing she was asked the question four times and four times she batted that questi

has a summit in beijing laid the groundwork for an unprecedented meeting between the u.s. and north korean leaders. alonzo raman you're watching al-jazeera live my headquarters here in there are also coming up in control of northern syrian town of a freend turkish forces prepared to move east towards monday each. also council and politicians prepare for a new confrontation with the traders the region's former leaders remain in custody in germany. and australia's disgraced cricketers steve smith and david warner are banned from playing for twelve months for their part in the ball tampering scandal . welcome to the program north korea's leader has met china's president on his first foreign trip since taking power seven years ago kim jong un's secretive meeting for the first time we've xi jinping was revealed after it happened chinese state media reports kim saying that he's open to giving up his nuclear program his all china correspondent adrian brown with the latest from beijing. and so he was here after a. chinese state controlled media waited until kim jong un was back ho

visitor in beijing fueling speculation about north korea and nuclear diplomacy. russia's president visits the site of a shopping center fire that killed sixty four people angry protesters are demanding justice for the victims. a second day of holes in egypt's election which president had to fight to his sisi is certain to win. and civil rights campaigners mourn the death of linda brown helped bring an end to racial segregation in u.s. schools. hello it is a visit shrouded in mystery and rife with speculation there's no word as to who exactly was on the train that left north korea for the chinese capital and is now on its way back but if it is who many believe it would be north korean leader kim jong un's first foreign trip since coming to power in two thousand and eleven a launch convoy with heavy security was seen on the streets with some reports saying it was a high level north korean delegation china's foreign ministry has denied any knowledge of the visit we've got our correspondent kathy novak standing by in seoul but first let's go to adrian brown in beijin

after he had crossed back into north korea beijing support for pianka chain dates back to the korean war in the one nine hundred fifty s. when communist china came to the north eight since then beijing has provided crucial economic support to the isolated country. towns forward nearly seventy years later and kim jong un's priorities have changed on changes nuclear ambitions have alarmed its closest ally china even took the unprecedented step of imposing sanctions on the north in two thousand and seventeen the mysterious visit comes ahead of a historic summit between the north and south scheduled for april the meeting is expected to focus on denuclearization of the korean peninsula a meeting between kim jong un and u.s. president donald trump is expected sometime before may. look at some sports as a flurry of international football action tonight as countries finalize their world cup squad so i had to face summers tournament in russia the pick of the bunch is germany against brazil that's in the record saying the reigning world champions against the team they defeated seven warm in th

beijing's skies are a strange colour of late — blue. brought prolonged bouts of days like these. and here, in part at least, is why. this factory is one of thousands that have been forced to close. they used to make ceramic tiles here. now, the kilns that once belched acrid smoke stand idle. translation: it was all very sudden. there were no meetings or warnings. the inspection team just turned up and shut us down. beijing still sees plenty of days like this but the city's average level of pm 2.5s, the tiny particles that make up these pea souper smogs, fell by 20% last year. and here's further evidence of the huge political will involved — new gas pipes. hundreds of villages surrounding beijing have been ordered to stop burning coal on such a scale that the price of gas on the international market doubled. "whether we want to switch to gas or not, we have no choice", he says. local people complain about the costly changes forced on them to clean the air of the wealthy middle classes in the city. beijing's ability to launch its battle f

taken former north korean leaders to beijing.s been confirmed that it was him. this was first confirmed international trip from the north korean leader since he came to power. it is interesting and kind of bizarre that chinese official state media waited until his train had left chinese territory and gone back into north korea before confirming that the obvious took place. we have some details. he went to the great hall of the people, met xi jinping. there was a performance there, we are led to believe. he met other senior members of the chinese communist party. including li keqiang, the premier and the vice president. pretty historic meeting, really, given developments on the korean peninsula. and it has been confirmed. steve mcdonell there. drjohn park is director of the korea working group at the harvard kennedy school. he gave me his reaction to this meeting. this is the first time that kimjong—un has left north korea. in terms of what took place, this is what we are piecing together in terms of significance. we have to keep

haidi: kim reportedly in beijing.arting to see the threats of maybe a trade war turning into a starting point for negotiations, president trump tweet og over the last hour, in the end all will be happy. we've seen the rebound in the u.s. the question is going into the easter long weekend we've got a dearth of economic data and market moving events to look forward to. what's going to keep this omentum going? >> is it a relief rally what? what's happening here? does it presage certain declines down the road? let's look at how your money is behaving. >> we haven't figured out if this is a correction or a gut check here. bonds are falling. want to highlight benchmark j.g.b. yields. sophie: markets will also want to know the outcome of japan's four-year option later today. with anxiety over trade tensions easing, gains of over % in apan, hong kong, china wells taiwan. the indonesian benchmark gaining. we do have tsmc among the biggest boosts to the regional index. we have concerns should china acquiesce to demands to boost

. —— beijing.ck markets have tumbled at fears ofa stock markets have tumbled at fears of a trade war. president trump says as much as $60 billion worth of chinese goods will be hit by new tariffs, import tariffs, import taxes, each year. he has not said how much, but did warn they could be up how much, but did warn they could be up to 25%, and more than 1000 products will likely be affected. we are waiting for a final list which could be in the next 15 days. us consumers will likely see the cost of goods obviously right sharply. it is aimed at tackling the huge trade deficit the us has with china. that is the imbalance are twin how much the us itself to china compared to how much china sell to the us. —— between. $375 billion last year. any way you look at it, it is the largest deficit of any country in the history of our world. it is out of control. we have a tremendous intellectual property theft situation going on which, likewise, is hundreds of aliens of dollars. —— billions. that is on a yearl

a mystery train pulled into beijing today. immediately the city was buzzing with word the train came from north korea and might be carrying kim jong un. if so it would be kim's first trip out of the country since taking power in 2011. ben tracy is about 20 minutes from the station in beijing. >> reporter: it was the distinctive green and yellow markings on the train that set off a firestorm of speculation on chinese social media. the train was from north korea. japanese media caught a glimpse of the 21-car train that signified a v.i.p. was on board. in beijing, it appeared as if an honor guard welcomed the mystery visitor. chinese media reported a heavy police presence at the beijing guest house where foreign thaders often say. that roads were closed and streets cordoned off only fueled the idea that kim jong un slipped into beijing. and tourists were cleared from tiananmen square, which normally only happens when important delegates are in town. this comes as north and south korea are having talks over the north's nuclear pro

the leader of north korea did visit beijing this week.oth states confirming this wednesday what was reported by japanese media. according to chinese media, kim jong-un assured xi jinping he was committed to giving up his nuclear weapons. he is due to meet south korea's later next month. washington singh beijing briefed the white house on the meeting on tuesday. a symbol of the reliance, the sino korean friendship bridge is the main crossing point connecting china and north korea. beijing is pyongyang's main ally as well as its principal trading partner. china alone accounts for 90% of north korean exports. namely coal, i iron, lead and seafood. beijing provides petrol to the hermit state. 50 toang has between 100,000 workers posted abroad and the vast majority are in china. the countries are also connected from a military position. north korea is the only country china has signed a defense treaty with back in 1961. recently some of kim jong-un's actions have frustrated beijiji. although china was initially reluctant to punish its ally, it

sworn in he added to fray saying he would fight for universal suffrage after a year in office the beijing government reinterpreted hong kong's constitution to deem him ineligible because of that this time he promises his supporters he has a plan ranging if you are going to unite and they believe in the end of this year we will discuss about the political rights of calling people i usually use the twenty fourteen pro-democracy demonstrations known as the umbrella movement beijing has tightened its grip on the city as on it is that you would like to have the government meet you can you still can have our you know the law says no no the onus is on that although we've been calculating these elections to a place for ousted legislative councillors are divided along very clear lines the candidates are either probate are pro democracy. this is the other camp rallying supporters in front of the government headquarters the poll beijing party's main office is to stabilize home fall. so i suppose that these are the government's preferred candidates if they win the opposition will not have the numbers

john sudworth, bbc news, beijing.ations and debate about the uk's future relationship with the european union. opinion in different parts of the united kingdom remains divided, on both the original decision to leave, and the nature of the future ahead. our special correspondent allan little has been to the county of kent, which voted strongly to leave the eu, to talk to people there about their hopes and fears. britain has been shaped by its proximity to continental europe. the relationship is ancient and intimate. at reculver on the kent coast, the romans built a garrison 2000 years ago. later, saxons settled here from what is now germany. then the normans came and built these twin towers. coast guard, we have your details. two years ago, britain voted to loosen ties across this channel. kent is brexit country. like many british fishermen, steve barrett has opposed european regulation for decades. he believes the brexit he voted for is now being negotiated away. i think we are going to be betrayed because the way it