10/03/2016 Asia Business Report

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

Online limits. China clamps down on foreign companies using the Internet

to do business. And how expensive is your city? We

look at the latest cost of living rankings. Prices are falling but

Singapore still tops fellow, Asia. Good morning, world.

Thanks for joining us for this edition of Asia Business Report, I'm

Rico Hizon in Singapore. A new law to regulate the Internet comes into

effect in China today and it could have a major impact on what foreign

firms can put online. They aim to restrict foreign-owned companies

including ones in joint ventures from publishing a wide range of

materials on the Web. But there are doubts about how the new rules will

be enforced, as Robin Brant from Shanghai reports.

There is no shortage of foreign firms here in China. They have been

selling, they've been constructing, and they've been making here for a

long time. But this new law isn't about controlling what they do in

the shops, it's about controlling what they on the Internet. Taken at

face value, it has very drastic implications. No foreign firm would

be allowed to publish anything online, that means news, news,

video, maps, maybe even instruction booklets. Only Chinese owned firms

with servers in China would be allowed to do that, and they would

also have to stick to the usual censorship laws here with core

socialist values at the heart of what they do. What happens next?

Here's what one legal expert thinks. TRANSLATION: in China, any

present publication on the Internet needs to have permission, this

permission is for both local and international companies. All the

Chinese companies need to have this doormat this permission, so do the

foreign companies. If the foreign companies don't need to have the

permission then it's a privilege. The indications for big foreign

firms like Apple could be very serious. China is the biggest market

in the world for its App Store. Is it suddenly going to change the

structure of the business because it doesn't like the look of this new

Internet Law? Disney is opening a theme park in June. If it doesn't

think it can abide by these restrictions will it take down its

online content in China? Something the law is so broad and ambiguous

that it's very unlikely to be in force, and even if it is, it'll be

very selective. The reality is something is this is the government

in Beijing trying to remind foreign firms that it thinks it can control

the Internet in China, and it wants to use it for its game and nobody

else's. Robin Brant in Shanghai. In other

news making headlines, a surprise decision from the Reserve Bank of

New Zealand, the central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate to a

record low of 2.2%. The bank signalled that it could still go

even lower due to concerns about weak international growth and lower

prices for its dairy exports. The New Zealand dollar falling more than

1% on this latest move. New Zealand has kept rates higher than many

other countries since the 2008 global financial turmoil.

New Zealand isn't the only central bank that meets today, the bank of

Korea has continued the policy that it has had for the last nine

months, and that may have kept the cost of borrowing unchanged. At

current levels, which are also at a record low of 1.5%. The ECB is

expected to unveil further easing as well on Thursday, so what will other

central banks do and why are they diverging on policy? Let's listen

in. It's not that long ago we were all

wondering which month in 2016 with the Bank of England in the city of

London raise interest rates. It was thought monetary and in Britain was

moving in the opposite direction to the ECB. No longer. Now it's thought

more likely the bank will cut rates from a level that's already very

low. Here in Asia, the bank of Japan's

controversial move to push interest rates below zero cut everyone off

guard -- court. The Japanese yen was getting too strong for the bank's

liking and hurting exports and Japanese companies were holding onto

massive piles of cash. So, to force the yen lower and to get companies

spending again, the bank of Japan pushed rates into negative territory

but that had a negative impact on the people of Japan. Savers there

have to pay the bank to hold onto their cash. That, what does the

central bank do next? Japan is still struggling and it looks like the

bank of Japan has limited options to get the economy

last year, America's Central Bank pushed the US back into the world of

positive interest rates just. Because 0.25% rise after several

years near zero isn't much. But the assumption is American rates are now

on course to rise, albeit slowly. Yet this depends on the continued

growth of the world's largest economy. And one of the headwinds

America's economy faces is the strength of the US dollar, which

makes American exports more expensive abroad. If the decisions

by other central banks, such as the ECB, strengthen the dollar further,

who knows what the knock on effects will be?

Global correspondence there on monetary. Do you think the city you

live in is expensive? If you're in Singapore then you're not surprised

to learn that once again this island state has been ranked the most

expensive place in the world. In a survey by the Economist intelligence

unit, Hong Kong is running a close second. We will look at other places

in a moment, but first, here's Lisa.

Here I am in Singapore, which has once again been ranked the world's

most expensive city, but it's not in supermarkets where the cost hits

you. A loaf of bread for example costs around half of what it would

in a city like New York. And a basket of shopping like this one is

actually cheaper than in many other Asian cities. In fact, this lot will

cost you about 30% more in Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo. So what is it

about Singapore that makes it the world's priciest place? Well, this

is the big one. A car is prohibitively expensive for most

people. It's not just the cost of the imported vehicle but the feed

you have to pay just for the privilege of owning it. But getting

from a to B isn't the only thing that costs a not. Education, utility

bills and even shopping for clothes can make Singapore a very expensive

place to live. Well, the gap between Singapore and

to places that took equal second in the cost of living rankings, Hong

Kong and zero, has narrowed significantly. Earlier I spoke to

Simon from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Singapore has had

very low in patient over the last year so many prices have fallen,

food, energy are down, and another big driver in the difference between

Hong Kong is the Hong Kong dollar has been very low. We have seen the

decrease in the Singapore dollar against the US dollar and this has

impacted the cost of living? It has. The gap between Hong Kong and

Singapore has narrowed significantly. Something worth

noting about the survey, it is focused on the cost of living for

expats. And lower prices aren't always a good thing. One reason why

Singapore is so expensive is it is costly to own a car, which gives us

crowded streets and easy commutes. One of the most expensive in the

world, but why are you only measuring expats, why not everyone?

Everyone's cost of living is measured by the consumer Price

indices that are produced on a monthly or quarterly basis. This

survey is designed for multinationals to use what is the

cost of living for expats and business travellers. A narrowing of

the cost of living between Singapore and Hong Kong, but some Chinese

cities are moving up the rankings. I'm surprised that Dali and is

included in this list? Dali and is an important Chinese business

centre, we have ten Chinese cities in the list and they have rocketed

up this year despite the weakness of the ROP, it has gone up, and food

prices are rising. Let's do away with expensive cities, what about

the cheapest? Does cheaper mean better? Not necessarily. There are

reasons why things are cheaper that mean the quality of life are lower.

The cheapest cities in the world tend to be south Asia, many of the

bottom ten are India and Pakistan. If you're international firm wants

to limit the cost of expat packages, increasing headcount in

Mumbai and Delhi is a good idea. Simon from the Economist

Intelligence Unit on the cost of living in Singapore, the most

expensive city. Asian stocks are rising in mid-morning trade after US

trading finished in positive territory overnight after a jump in

oil prices that lifted most petroleum linked shares. The Nikkei

two to five gaining about 1%. More mild gains for the Hang Seng. -- the

Nikkei 225. Thanks for investing your time with us. I'm Rico Hizon.

Goodbye for now. Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy

party is due to reveal its nominations to be Myanmar's

president later, after months