10/04/2014 World Business Report

responsibility for killing her. Those are the headlines for you. Now

it's over to the business news. A big surprise in China as exports and

imports shoot up. What does it mean? And it's the latest technology gold

rush. Health apps that claim they measure everything from diabetes to

glucose levels. Is it time for regulation? Hello and a warm welcome

to this edition of World Business Report.

In a moment, we'll look at the state of the Greek economy. But first to

China where exports unexpectedly fell in March while inport growth

was the weakest in 13 months. However, the country's Customs

Bureau sounded an optimistic note saying that it saw a pick`up due to

an improving trade environment. Now, let's look at the figures. Exports

dropped 6. 6% in March as analysts expected a positive number. And the

import side saw a fall of 11. 3%. Here, too, a positive number was

expected. It's a bit more worrying as it may point to some weakness in

China's own economy. All of this left March with a trade surplus of

$#. 7 billion. Let's talk to Martin Patience. Disappointing figures here

though some would say that this they compare to last year's figures that

weren't as regulated as we could have expected? That's right. When

you speak to analysts, they'll say that you need to take the figures

with a pinch of salt. And many say that last year, exporters, not all

exporters, but some exporters were actually inflating the price of

their goods that had been sent abroad. What they reported was

actually higher than the amount sent. And the reason they were doing

that was in order to bring capital cash in to China. Many analysts are

saying that actually, as you were pointing out, we don't have a

straight comparison here and what we are seeing here is possibly a

correction. Certainly the authorities have said that they are

going to crack down on false data and they said this last month saying

that this could harm the world's second largest economy. Because the

discemancy is huge, isn't it? `` discrepancy is huge, isn't it? It

seems too big to be realistic? Yes, some would say that the discrepancy

is huge. Others would say that you have to look at other factors.

Demand, perhaps, isn't growing as strongly as China would like. It's

interesting ` we also had comments from Chinese officials saying that

they were facing increased competition in terms of neighbouring

countries, so China, when you look at it, is as a manufacturing base,

certainly salaries are beginning to rise. China is becoming a more

expensive place to do business. The economic model here has been built

on exporting cheap goods, and some companies will be looking to other

countries for other opportunities. There is some suggestion that may be

happening. Coupled with the correction in the figures, that's

what many analysts believe has led to this big surprise today. OK, good

to talk to you. Thank you. Now, nowadays, there are no fewer

than 100,000 different mobile apps on the market to help you monitor

your health. Using a smartphone, you can monitor your blood pressure and

insulin levels or the amount of daily exercise. All of this could

make people look after their health much better and slash healthcare

costs. But the European Commission suspects that the growth of the

mobile health industry carries risk as well. In a Green Paper to be

released in a few hours time, it's recommending new regulations to

govern the sector. Genetic Digital ` a British company

` has developed an app for doctors to showcase their risk of getting

liver disease. It makes the medical data understandable. The amber light

means a moderate risk and red is high. This is one of 100,000 apps on

the market which help people to track their health. For healthcare

professionals, there are definite benefits in being able to help

reduce consulting times, to help transmit information more quickly to

other doctors. To integrate patient services with the surgery to their

patients. So there are lots of very good reasons for doing it. No fewer

than 500 new health apps come out every week. Most are sold through

online stores like iTunes or Google. Currently, it's up to the stores

themselves to judge which apps are good enough to go on sale. But with

so many products to sort through, there's always the risk that a rogue

app will creep on to the market. One which is unreliable or misleading.

We've developed it both for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The head of

technology at Diabetes UK demonstrates its app for diabetics

to track their blood sugar levels. But there are hundreds of diabetes

apps available, he says, and they work in wildly different ways. For a

doctor, you're going to be faced with quite a difficult and confusing

situation with apps measuring different things in different ways,

and therefore, being able to make consistent clinical judgements will

prove to be difficult unless there is either one app, which is probably

not a good situation, or if there's a common standard, which is one of

the things that the ECB Green Paper is looking for. The Commission

believes that with ever more patients tracking their health with

apps, medical care costs in Europe could fall by $140 billion in the

next three years. So it is reluctant to stifle apps makers with over

regulation. But to protect the most vulnerable patients, it says that

this huge new industry needs ground rules.

Now, on Tuesday, Greece sold 6`month Treasury bills at the lowest since

2010. Most of the buyers were foreign. Today, it's planning a

return to the international bond markets to are the first time in

four years with the sale of 5`year euro bonds. But even though the

country's borrowing costs are down and there are no longer fears that

Greece will crash, how much has the economic situation really improved.

Let's talk to the Foreign Exchange Strategy at CICB. Good to talk to

you. Leaders have been preaching about austerity for years and how it

works and can turn your economy around. Do you think that this is

proof that they're right? I wouldn't say that it is compelling proof, but

it is a realisation that Greece is being rehabilitated and it is being

allowed access to the international bond markets. That's good news for

the Greek government ahead of the European elections late next month.

Of course, the bond sale reflects optimism about Greece but it's been

a long and difficult road to get here with wage cuts and lay`offs. Is

it a price worth way paying for the Greek economy? We've seen the

economy shrink and unemployment running at 28%. That's the total

rate of unemployment. If you look at youth unemployment, it's more than

50%. So the price is hugely significant. The question is, of

course, what would have been the alternative? Because the Greeks were

under the umbrella of the eurozone so there were few and scant

alternatives. So you could argue that the pain has been undergone.

There are signs of optimism starting to come through. There are signs

that the eurozone, in general, is growing. That will filter through in

to the rest of the periphery and that will encourage some return of

growth in grease. E. `` Greece. OK, thank you very much.

Other news now and Wal`Mart is going ahead with its plans to build

another 50 wholesale stores in India in the next five years. That's

despite possible policy changes that should arise should a new government

win the election. Today to mark a turning point in the elections as

voters go to the polls in 14 states across the country.

BP holds its AGM at the Excel Centre in London. The CEO will be under

pressure to address issues surrounding the company's 20% stake

in a Russian company amid fears that Vladimir Putin could assets.

Investors will want to know how exposed the company is if events in

Ukraine unravel. And the Bank of America has agreed

to pay $783 million in fines and refunds amid accusations that it

misled customers about credit card services. Some $45 million of that

money will be paid in penalties to US regulators. The payout relates to

the lending giant's marketing of the payment and identity theft services

from 2010 to 2012. Let's take a look at the markets

before I go. And this is what the Asian markets look like right now.

We've seen the Nikkei have caution amongst investors in Japan after the

Bank of Japan's words earlier talking about a lack of monetary

policy coming up. The China trade figures not having as big an impact

as you would expect. That's it from me and the team. Do stay watching.

Goodbye. Most graduates in England will still

be paying back their student loans until they're in their early 50s

according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies. The ministers say that the

fees are helping poorer students. Studying at university has long