24/03/2014 World Business Report

deep. For the latest financial news with

Sally. East meets West. The Chinese

President arrives in Europe on a visit to get towards international

issues and free trade. And as leaders meet in the Hague,

there is speculation of further action against Russia and we ask if

the future is bleak for businesses trading day.

Welcome to World Business Report. Also in the programme, output from

China's factories stood again in March, deepening concern that the

nation will miss its growth targets. But first, Xi Jinping has arrived in

Europe to start his long`awaited diplomatic tour of the region. In

his trip to Belgium, France and Germany the Chinese leader will meet

a nuclear summit of other leaders and hope to sign a series of trade

deals. An order of Erebus jets may be placed by the Chinese government.

`` Erebus. But the meetings are often challenging.

Arriving in the Netherlands on Saturday, the Chinese leader on a

landmark visit to Europe in which trade and business are going to

feature prominently. France is preparing a sumptuous welcome. It is

the 50th anniversary of relationships with Beijing. Nothing

is confirmed, but it is hoped that Airbus may clinch a major deal to

sell 150 passenger jets to China. Other sectors are also being looked

at by Paris. Plus, a carmaker will formally signed a long`awaited deal

opening up its capital to the Chinese. Afterwards, Xi Jinping

travels to Berlin and Brussels for a first ever visit by a Chinese

president to the EU institutions. Trade relations have much improved

since the resolution of an anti`dumping rail over Chinese solar

panels. The visit comes at a crucial time in international affairs. The

EU is downgrading ties with Russia because of actions in Premier. For

China that can only be an opportunity. A favourite reception

in European capitals leading to better trading cards and perhaps to

that particular prize in Beijing, more transfers of Western

technology. We will keep an eye on his tour and any deal stunned. ``

deals done. Figures just released in China indicate its manufacturing

sector saw a fall in growth to an eight`month low. Let us go to

Singapore. These are just the preliminary numbers that we have

had. But it seems to be a trend gathering momentum, that factories

are slowing down. That is right. It is the preliminary numbers put out

every time this month. It is the purchasing managers index. Dropping

to 48.1 versus 48.5 in February. Any reading below 50 is a contraction.

It focuses on smaller companies in the private sector. That data will

be released later this month. Last year this month it was 50.2. All of

this reinforcing signs of a slowdown in the world's second`largest

economy. Chinese exports have also dropped 18%. That is leading to a

trade deficit. All of that suggesting that China is starting to

slow. We also heard from China's annual National People's conference.

The Premier setting a target of 7.5%. That is the same rate as last

year. He is adding there was some flexibility on the target. They

declared a war on pollution, which is something that many Chinese

factories are remaining wary of. They are looking for ways to

manufacture more cleanly. We appreciate your time. Another

story that is ongoing, as sanctions increase in Russia and as the G`7

and other leaders meet in the Hague to discuss the confrontation, we ask

how worried businesses should be trading on Sunday. The European

Union is united in its readiness to impose economic sanctions on Russia,

according to one minister. He says Russia has a lot more to lose than

Europe or the United States. And the aim is to uphold international law

and is of secondary importance to economic or financial costs. For now

the sanctions are politically focused, but companies in the region

are getting nervous. Experts are worried it could impact European

business is more than Russian ones. What are the legal ramifications. A

question to my guest. Thank you for being on the programme. The company

you advise, legal matters in regard to their trading elsewhere. For

companies doing business in Russia, what do they need to be thinking

about? Good morning. The first message for companies is, do not

panic. The sanctions that have been imposed a relatively narrow in

scope. Alive to the direction of travel. There are three things that

indicates that direction of travel. A bank was subject to US sanctions.

That indicates the financial services sector might be targeted.

Ayshire holder in an oil trading company was targeted. That makes

trade is difficult. `` eight shareholder. An executive order

issued by the US government that authorises further economic

sanctions if required targeting financial services, energy and

mining. Those are the sectors of most concern. At the moment the

sanctions are relatively limited. The steps companies can take to

protect themselves are threefold. Very your customer. Who stands

behind your customer? `` know your. Secondly, contractual protection.

Make sure you have the right to suspend the provision of your

products and services or any payments. That is should sanctions

be imposed. From a commercial perspective, six things such as

payment in advance of delivery. Then you can protect yourself quite well.

And of course, the issue for business is the lack of visibility

on this and the lack of being able to predict what is going to happen.

We are hearing that some companies in Europe are very worried about

sanctions pushing up the cost of energy. It is all sorts of areas

where companies can be hit by what is going on. The economic impact

cannot be undermined. Will it impact on the media turn, but it will also

impact on international businesses. There is a lot of nervous as this

make feeling out there. `` and others feelings. If you compare the

sanctions with Iran, moving to economic sanctions had a significant

impact on business. It also had an impact on international businesses

trading with Iran. Very fast moving sanctions can come down quickly. We

have to leave it there. Good to get a legal perspective. Let us have a

look at the markets. So you have a sense of how things are going at the

start of a brand`new trading week. A mixed picture in Asia. The news out

of China about its manufacturing not phasing investors. These are the

currencies. Back in the few minutes for the papers.

The papers in a moment. There are fresh calls for an investigation

into Britain's energy market. A consumer group say that bills are

too high and more competition needs to be