16/04/2014 Asia Business Report

being blamed for the attack. The SNP has accused a British MP of

spreading myths and misinformation about jobs after Scottish

independence. The Chinese government may be putting the brakes on growth

as it looks to reform the economy. And the Battle of the budget airline

carriers. Thank you for joining us. The rate at which China's economy

has grown over the first three months of this year will be revealed

in about 30 minutes. Everyone is expecting growth to have slowed, but

by how much? It is down to a deliberate attempt by the government

to launch economic reforms, crucial if the mainland is to continue

growing strongly in the future. The Chinese steel industry produces half

of the world's steel and is now in decline. It is the industry that has

fired China's searing growth. Steele has transformed its cities and laid

the foundations of the world's second`largest economy, but now the

industry is symbolic of China's economic weakness. Nowhere is that

clearer than in this province, which produces more steel in one year than

the US. But oversupply as well as concerns about pollution means

unprofitable steel mills are being forced to close. We visited one of

the dozens of plants that have stopped production. It's incredibly

eerie here. When we talk about economic restructuring China, this

is what it looks like. It means that old industries like steel will be

left to rust when investment goes elsewhere. It is a painful process,

as the workers at this plant have already found out. It means tens of

thousands of people will lose their jobs. Outside the gates, workers can

wait for a whole day and get no work. This man says a couple of

years ago, you could make $700 per month. Now, he is lucky if he makes

half of that. If the steel meals do not produce, we don't get a job, he

says. Chinese leaders say major economic reforms are required to

create new and better paying jobs. But many in the country's industrial

heartlands fear that they will be thrown on the scrapheap.

Thank you for joining us. Will the GDP numbers meet the government

target of 7.5%? Going into 2014, we expected that Chinese economic

growth would be on the downside, while the reform agenda would be

surprising. It's likely that first`quarter GDP will come below

that intended result. It will be around 7% or possibly just lower. In

your view, how heavy Chinese handled rebalancing the economy? When you

shift from a model whereby you are going from fist asset investment

spending, export, to focusing on private consumption, this does take

a while. It does lead to slower economic growth. The market is

absorbing this. It is really about the implementation of the reform

agenda because this will in the end see the economy grow and become

stable over the long`term. Thank you. Staying with China, thousands

of workers have gone on strike in a factory in Guandong province, which

makes shoes for brands like Nikkei and Adidas. These pictures show the

police as they reach the blockade. police as they reach the blockade.

The factory is owned by a footwear giant, which is not commented on the

claims or the strike. Earlier, I spoke with a representative from a

group which promotes workers rights on the mainland. Workers over the

past few years have started to realise that social insurance can

benefit them. A few years ago, because of policy issues, social

insurance that was provided to workers could not be transferred to

another city or back home if the workers left their current

employment. But policy changes have made that possible, for workers to

take their benefits with them, and as workers have realised this, they

have learned that they have not been paid these benefits for years. In

this case, the workers are demanding this backpay for the past few years.

That is why we have seen an increase in labour activism in the mainland.

How will this be resolved between employers and employees? In this

particular case, nothing has really happened in terms of negotiations as

far as we know. The workers say they received a letter that just washes

over the position and does not really talk about their demands.

Whether the management will step out of their offices and talk to the

workers... We are hoping that the brand`name companies will get

involved and help reach a resolution that is pleasing to everyone. Thank

you. Shares of... The shares of any internet giant, Yahoo, have reached

positive levels. It received a boost because of its stake in Ali Baba,

which recorded a 66% hike in sales and is expected to post one of the

world's largest initial public offerings later this year. Demand

for personal computers is continuing to shrink. Dell's profits have

slumped. However, tablet and data processing businesses... The US has

warned China it is concerned about the recent drop in its currency. The

US says the Chinese yuan is still significantly undervalued and that

it is watching its movements closely. Many American lawmakers and

politicians say that China deliberately keeps its currency weak

in order to gain a trading advantage. After decades of

indecision, the Australian government yesterday gave the green

light for a second airport in Sydney. The Prime Minister said the

project will cost $2.5 billion and work will not begin for over a

decade, but he said that it could potentially add $20 billion to the

Australian economy by 2060. Thank you for joining us. Is a second

airport really necessary? It is long overdue. The Prime Minister himself

said that we had been talking about this for 40 years and it is good

that action comes. It indicates the political nature of these

infrastructure planning decisions. There is a need to make sure that

infrastructure keeps up with the growth. South`east Asia's biggest

carrier, Singapore Airlines, has announced plans to sponsor the first

leg of the Singapore Grand Prix. To stay profitable, Singapore Airlines

is also investing in low`cost carriers and expanding into regional

routes. Its `` Organic growth, direct growth. In some cases, we

still want to extend our reach to smaller destinations. It makes sense

for us to do so on our own. And when not, we will use partnership to

achieve these proposals, such as our partnership with Virgin Australia

and the partnership we have recently announced with Air New Zealand. In

the past, Singapore a has always been fairly independent. Does that

mean that you need partnerships to grow? We are a commercial

organisation and we cannot just be based on one particular model and

stick to it forever. The environment is changing rapidly and we have to

see how that environment has changed and what we have to do in order to

make sure that we do well in that environment. Low`cost carrier

traffic now accounts for some 30% of flights going in and out of

Singapore and 50% of flights going in and out of South East Asia. Do

you see your traditional long haul model dying? Long haul flights will

continue to do well. Different markets obviously will have

different growth on different levels of the market. Locally, the economy

is becoming more robust. We have invested in the low`cost sectors.

The absolute... We can still see the legacy airlines, the full`service

carriers, still forming most of the capacity. Singapore Airlines will

continue to grow and will continue to grow in phases `` places where it

makes sense for us to operate. Thank you for investing your time with us.

This has been Asia Business Report. This is BBC News. The headlines: A

rescue operation is under way off the south`west coast of South rear

to evacuate more than 350 passengers, mainly high school

students, from a ferry,