13/01/2016 Asia Business Report

Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore

China's latest trade figures - how will the volatile markets react?

Also waiting in on mines, oil is under $30 a barrel -- weighing. --

mids. Hello, and welcome to

Asia Business Report. We start with China's trade numbers

to be released shortly. They are expected to show weakness in imports

and exports. Officials are widely seen as trying to boost the

country's trade performance, pushing down the value of the local

currency, the yuan. With a slowing economy and so much market

volatility, how will these figures be received? Let's cross to Hong

Kong, with Andrew Sullivan. Thank you for being on Asia Business

Report. What are you looking for in these numbers? Well, the key thing

is signs of stabilisation, to see the declines are bottoming out, and

that there is the potential for upside going forward. If you look at

the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index over the last couple

of months, it has been disappointing with weak demand the key factor. I

think you are right. At the end of the day, China is an export driven

nation. The policy of the Government is to move towards domestic

consumption. It takes a long time for that to take place. In the

meantime, they are very much an exporter. They are reacting to the

global slowdown we've seen in Europe and the US. That will be a major

factor for them. They import a lot of oil and commodities, which have

seen them bottom out over the last 1.5 years - will this improve the

import numbers and domestic consumption? Well, I think, you

know, it has mentioned the devaluation of the yuan. This is a

good time to devalue. Those imports, with a stronger yuan, they

are cheaper, in devaluing them, however, they are slightly more

expensive. They have come at a time when the imports have come down in

price. Oil has come down from 110 to the $30 range, which means that they

are not suddenly putting up the cost of the imports that they are

bringing into the country. Devaluation has served them well.

They are continuing to stop while a lot of these resources, because they

will still need them going forward -- stockpile. They will have to

build houses and roads and update infrastructure going forward. Thank

you for your insight on the trade data to be released in 25 minutes.

Continuing concerns about the Chinese slowing economy and the

major supply glut, we have seen oil prices dip below $30 per barrel in

New York for the first time in 12 years. So far we have seen prices

lose 20% in value so far in 2016. Let's give you an update on how they

are going in early Asian trade. Crude is at $30 per barrel. Brent

crude is above $31. Well, this falling oil price has indeed been

impacting profits, especially at British oil giant BP, which is

cutting 4000 jobs worldwide. 600 of them will be from its North Sea

operations. The Brazilian oil giant Petra Bass is scaling back

investment plans by $32 billion. That is the third cut from the

country in six months -- Petrobras. There will be more pain to come in

the industry. It is concerning, to be honest. Not surprising. We've

still got access supply over demand, which will still weigh over prices

in the short-term. I don't think China is that big of an issue when

it comes to oil. I think people have been making it out. Chinese oil

demand is likely to eek out oil growth. The second element is the

ongoing strength of the dollar. That will push the oil price down. These

depressed prices have stressed the energy sector around the world, and

the Chinese oil companies as well. How can this affect Asian consumers

and countries subsidising oil prices? It is fantastic for

countries subsidising oil prices. In Indonesia, that gives you the excuse

to remove those subsidies, which will help government balance sheets.

It is great for the driving consumer. It will be disinflationary

for prices. For companies, it is a completely different matter. You

mentioned with BT, further job cuts, all of these companies are

trimming costs as much as possible to try to get through this

extraordinarily low oil price period. A lot of these companies,

which were marginal at $50, will really struggle Saab $30 for short

with Morgan Stanley said it could go down to $30 -- sub. Many oil and

resource companies are depending on China for their profitability. With

the China trade dart out shortly do you expect numbers to show further

declines? -- data. Yeah. I suspect we will see a larger decline in

imports than exports. It is not great. It will lead to a bigger

trade surplus for China. I don't think the impact on equity markets

will be particularly difficult, because we won't see much, unless it

is a huge surprise to the negative, or the positive, obviously. I don't

think investors are really looking at trade dart up that heavily. I

think oil is weighing on their mind more significantly -- data. It is

not all doom and gloom in the mainland with Starbucks opening 500

stores in China despite the cooling economic conditions. The largest

coffee chain in the world says the plan will create 10,000 jobs in the

country each year through 2019. It is the largest market for Starbucks

outside the US. Raising money is easy and it is no different when it

comes to attracting front for a good cause. Charities say that donors are

increasingly wanting to know how the money is being spent.

looks closer at the business of giving in Sydney. Australians donate

millions of dollars to good causes each year. But the competition for

those funds among thousands of charities and not-for-profit groups

is intense. And invariably, the organisations that flourished are

the ones with a sound business plan. Sydney community foundation is an

independent foundation and we want to inspire the -- philanthropy. --

Sydney Community Foundation. That particularly supports women and

girls to thrive and be the best they can. The foundation has set up a

community cafe that gives women the chance to run a sustainable

business. The not-for-profit sector is a big sector in Australia. You

definitely need very good corporate governance. We have a board of

trustees with a particular mix of skills. You need to be very

transparent and well-run. Stuart House in Sydney is respite care at

the seaside for children. From disadvantaged families in the state

of New South Wales. The charity's budget comes from donations from

teachers, as well as other fundraising and grants. Around $4

million per year in operating expenses are needed to make sure

that we can take care of over 1800 children each year. We will be

addressing more mental health issues in children associated with

traumatic backgrounds. And to do that, I definitely need a lot more

money. To do that, this business has to be sustainable, so we have to go

out and find corporate donors that allow us a 10-20 year horizon in

terms of the amount of money that they can provide the organisation.

We compete with every other worthy charity in New South Wales, it

indeed in Australia. -- indeed. And it is tough. There are more than

54,000 registered charities in Australia, supervised by a

government appointed regulator. That job is to see that organisations are

run in a businesslike way. That is so that donations reach those that

need them the most. And, before we go, a look at the Asia-Pacific

market. A positive mood so far, with Japan, Hong Kong and Australia in

positive territory, and the Chinese markets are up half a percent, all

before the release of the trade data to come out in 20 minutes. And, of

course, on Wall Street, both the Dow and the NASDAQ were positive. Thank

you so much for in investing your time with us. I am Rico