xijinping is expected to speak.conomic adviser will be meeting with the us trade representative and the treasury secretary in beijing. and let's not forget breaks it because theresa may is expected to bring back her plan to the house of commons for the third time. katherin yuen is from fidelity international andi yuen is from fidelity international and i asked her why this was.= yuen is from fidelity international and i asked her why this was. - - cathering yeung. this doesn't bode well for the markets on friday with the data that came out of europe in terms of pmi. a lot of signs of instability are coming through. meanwhile, the ongoing trade war, president xijinping meanwhile, the ongoing trade war, president xi jinping might speak at the boao president xi jinping might speak at the boa0 forum. president xi jinping might speak at the boao forum. it continues to dominate the market sentiment here in asia. what are you expecting in the terms of the latest? we still continue to believe that the resolution around this

yes, so there is speculation that trump and president xijinping will actually speculation that trump president xi jinping will actually met speculation that trump and president xijinping will actually met in mid—march. and really, this has been hanging over the markets for over a year, so hanging over the markets for over a year, so some hanging over the markets for over a year, so some kind of resolution should bode well and should see the market further extend the rally we have seen. having said that, it has been fairly momentum driven so investors should expect some volatility. last week there was talk that two site have had no agreement on an enforcement activism —— two sides. could this be a problem? -- enforcement mechanism. when it comes to the tariff themselves there will still be some to—ing and fro—ing when it comes to other issues, for example china opening up further when it comes to foreign owned entities. so we are not out of the woods yet although this short—term resolution is likely to be near term. and it is international women's day on friday, and still focusing on

so does president xijinping see you billion chinese.es president xi jinping see you very much as part of china? because you do have this special status. because there is concern in china about what some describe as his increasing authoritarianism and centralisation. imean, i authoritarianism and centralisation. i mean, i will give you an example of just i mean, i will give you an example ofjust one critic, a 90—year—old economist, who has seen so many trends in china. he says president xi ‘s idea of governance is less liberty and more control. he scrapped the two term limits last year so he could in fact to be president for life, if you wanted to. he has had a huge purge of his critics and this anti—corruption drive, i mean, there are numerous exa m ples drive, i mean, there are numerous examples one could cite. you know, i have been involved in politics in hong kong, and china is 8 million people, less than 8 million, china is1.3 people, less than 8 million, china is 1.3 billion, and you can imagine it is not an easyjob, so obviously c

president xijinping recently pace of reform has sped up. led lawmakers in approving new rules for foreign investors, more protection foreign investors, more protection for their ip was part of it. now comes the crucial bit, enforcement. we wa nt comes the crucial bit, enforcement. we want to see cases in the local courts and those enforcement agencies, implementing these kinds of laws that are beneficial to foreign ip owners. many a foreign company has been stung over the yea rs. company has been stung over the years. some in china's booming fruit business still choose not to risk their ip. one recently said they wa nted their ip. one recently said they wanted to build new conveyor belts for their farms but the wanted to build new conveyor belts for theirfarms but the european manufacturer said no, they fear their systems would be copied here and they would be wiped out. now let's brief you on some other business stories. airbus has secured an order from china for 300 jets, in a deal estimated to be worth $34bn. the agreement was reached du

in other business news making headlines, —— china's president xijinping ‘s in italy as he tries to persuadeo jump aboard china's belt road initiative. some 60 countries have signed up, italy has signalled it is keen tojoin have signed up, italy has signalled it is keen to join despite opposition from the european union and the united states. if it does get on board, it will be the first g7 country to do so. well, i think it isa g7 country to do so. well, i think it is a decision they need to make. they clearly have an infrastructure neededin they clearly have an infrastructure needed in italy, they clearly do not have the finances to do so and china is offering a bucket of money, like it is doing elsewhere in the world, to help finance infrastructure, which you have to remember that china does not do this out of altruistic purposes, they do it for their own purposes as well. so it is not a free ride? alert is definitely not a free ride? alert is definitely not a free ride. and of course, the economy is booming, it slipped back into a session at the end of 2015 in their debt levels one of th

trump and chinese president xijinping are expected to meet at the end of april, but no date has yet been the market, the japanese market up. the hang seng up by 83. a lot of investors are awaiting that all important economic data, which will be out very soon. thank you so much for investing your time with us, i am rico hizon. goodbye for now. the government has downgraded its prediction for economic growth this year but says it expects borrowing to be lower. the details were announced in the chancellor's spring statement to mps. philip hammond said the predictions depended on an orderly brexit and he highlighted what he called the ‘cloud of uncertainty hanging over the economy'. our economics correspondent dharshini david reports. at this cookery class in manchester, cuts to some public services have been hard to swallow. they are keenly aware of the way budgets have sometimes failed to keep up with the cost of living over the last decade. we are not getting for what we are paying, really. the police and the fire, we are not getting the services enough. parents needing to provide papers

deal is indeed reached, an agreement could he signed between president donald trump and present xijinpingent donald trump and present xi jinping at the summit. there seems to be a date now, marched onto seven. so that is about three and weeks from now. —— march 27. lets all hope that it will indeed be signed, for the sake of many market investors. we must put that in our diaries. yes. we will be talking about that on march 27. australia will see the world's biggest house price declines this year. that's according to leading credit rating agency, fitch. a credit squeeze, oversupply and the withdrawal of foreign buyers, including many from china, have sent prices tumbling with consequences for the broader economy. phil mercer reports, from sydney, one of the worst—affected cities. desperation is creeping into australia's top of the market. it suffered its steepest fall in prices since the —— since the global financial crisis in 2008. this is a 3—bedroom, 2—storey unit. financial crisis in 2008. this is a s-bedroom, 2-storey unit. sydney is suffering the most. melbourne has felt the pain as

we start in rome, where chinese president xijinping is arriving today. he's trying to persuade italy tojoin china's grand plan for a global trade network, a sort of modern silk road. the trillion—dollar belt and road initiative aims to connect asia, the middle east, africa and europe via a network of ports, railways, roads and tunnels. it's central to china's strategy for boosting sales of its goods and services around the world. more than 100 countries have signed up, but italy would be the first g7 member tojoin. critics in the us and eu see the belt and road initiative as a plan to expand china's sphere of influence. they say it mostly benefits chinese companies, and traps poorer countries in debt to china. still, many in italy's business world would like investment from china. the port of trieste is in talks with a chinese construction firm for help with a billion—dollar revamp. it wants to become china's "gateway to europe." italy's trade with china hitjust under $50 billion last year. at 2.5% of gdp, china trade makes up a smaller share of the econ

foreign investors recently led lawmakers and approving new rules forforeign investors —— president xijinpingcases of the local courts and also enforcement agencies implementing this law and that is beneficial to owners. mehran — met many a foreign company has been stung over the years. some in china's booming fruit business still refuse to risk your ip. they wa nt to still refuse to risk your ip. they want to buy new conveyor belts but the european manufacturer said no, they feared their assistance would be copied here and they would be wiped out. let's have a quick look now at the asia pacific markets, and they have broken the global stock market losing streak. currently in the mid—morning, asian trade, the nick caveis mid—morning, asian trade, the nick cave is up by 1.6%. the all ordinaries gaining 1.4 and the hang sengindex ordinaries gaining 1.4 and the hang seng index isjust open ordinaries gaining 1.4 and the hang seng index is just open for trading, up seng index is just open for trading, up by seng index is just open for trading, up by 0.5%. thank you very much. thought today is comi

now, in the south china morning post, they're focusing on president xijinping's visit to rome this weekf deals, opening up italian ports as part of china's belt and road initiative. and the new york times is looking at costa rica leading the charge in going green for the environment. the small south american nation is apparently aiming for a complete move away from all fossil fuels by 2050. many thanks. let's get more the aftermath of storm idai, which has triggered a "massive disaster" in southern africa, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. challiss mcdonough works for the un world food programme. she says that the devastation in beira is hard to imagine. there were homes under water, people have lost their crops, their livestock. the roads in and out of the port city of beira are com pletely the port city of beira are completely underwater, so that critical port city has been largely cut off by road and the government estimates that around 600,000 people are affected, and we have done satellite imagery that indicates that there could be up to 1.7 million people in mozambique al

fench president emmanuel macron has welcomed his chinese counterpart xijinping to the elysee palace inscott walker, one of the most influential pop stars of the 1960s, has died at the age of 76. the us star found fame as a teen idol in the walker brothers, scoring hits with the sun ain‘t gonna shine anymore and make it easy on yourself. walker‘s death was confirmed by his current record label 4ad, who said he will be remembered as one of the most revered innovators at the sharp end of creative music. this is beyond 100 days. still to come: a charity connected to the billionaire sackler family suspends new donations amid controversy over their alleged links to the us opioid crisis. dead rats stuffed with drugs and mobile phones have been found at a prison in dorset. the prison service says its the first time rats have been used in this way to smuggle goods into prison. the bbc‘s duncan kennedy has more on this story. it‘s the kind of security designed to keep people in and goods out. but here at guys marsh prison in dorset, that security has now been breached by this — dead rats. three