18/08/2016 World Business Report

Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.

Now for the latest financial news with Sally Bundock

It is deadline day for two Chinese firms looking to take over Ausgrid,

but will Australia give the green light to the sale

The UK Government launches its plan to combat childhood obesity,

but will a 20% sugar tax make a difference?

Also in the programme we will be seeing how the strong yen has

affected Japan's exports, with a sharp decline in exports in the last

month. We will look at the numbers in just a moment.

Companies from China and Hong Kong have until today to convince

Australia to sell them its largest electricity network,

In a preliminary decision last week the Australian government blocked

China's State Grid corporation and Cheung Kong Infrastructure

of Hong Kong are after a controlling stake.

China is the world's third-biggest international investor,

having spent $123 billion overseas in 2014.

That number is set to rise, and while projects need funding,

some Chinese practices have proven unwelcome.

In the last month, the British Government decided

to postpone final approval of a nuclear power station

at Hinkley Point over concerns about Chinese

And, across the pond, similar concerns led technology firm

Fairchild Semiconductors to reject a $2.5 billion bid from a Chinese

firm, in lieu of a lesser offer from an American company.

Fairchild said it was worried about getting congressional approval

So back to Australia where Phil Mercer is standing by.

Just explain in a bit more detail what is going on here. It seems

there is a bitter tug-of-war between Beijing and Australia. It is pretty

confusing. Back in March these two companies, one from China and one

from Hong Kong, seemed to be in the running to buy a Ausgrid,

Australia's biggest electricity network. Yet a week ago the

Australian government put a temporary block on any sale to those

bidders, citing national security concerns. Now, during a press

conference the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said

that those reasons were very, very sound, he said that he couldn't

explain exactly what they were due to their security sensitivities. It

may well be that Australia is trying to really gauge the extent of the

Chinese government's involvement in these two Enterprises, but at the

moment we simply don't know the specific reasons why Australia has

blocked the sale, and those two bidders have until today to convince

Australia to change its mind, and to allow them to buy Ausgrid,

Australia's premier electricity network. And it is an interesting

development, China's commerce Ministry saying Chinese firms are

not being treated fairly, this is protectionist measures on the part

of Australia and yet for Australia at the Chinese economy is so

important in terms of that relationship. Well, China is

Australia's biggest trading partner and demand from China in recent

years, especially for iron ore and coal, really did insulate Australia

and the worst of the global financial crisis. Now, Australia's

National resources boom is coming to an end so future prosperity will

rely on other markets taking advantage of demand from China. So

clearly Australia needs China's money. Whether this decision from

Australia is political... Remember, in the upper house of the Australian

Parliament there are protectionist and right-wing parties who will be

very important for the government in its attempt to pass legislation. Is

this an attempt by the government to placate those right wing and

protectionist party 's? The government says not but at the

moment we simply don't know. There is a feeling among some experts that

taps Australia's decision is driven in some part by xenophobia -- that

perhaps. If that is true there could be troubled waters ahead in the

relationships between Australia and it's very powerful and rich partner,

China. Thank you for filling us in, we will keep an eye on how that

develops later. The UK Government is today

launching a far-reaching plan The programme is targeting a 20%

reduction in the amount of sugar used in products popular

with children, over five years, A consultation is to examine

using a tax on sugary drinks to fund The level of the tax

is yet to be determined, but some health campaigners suggest

this should be as much as 20% Dr John Lee, head of policy

at the Scottish Grocers Federation. Good to meet you, John. Good

morning. Now, just give us the sense of how the sort of food and

beverages industry is reacting to this. Because of course this was

announced a while ago. Today the plan will be put forward in its

entirety. What does it mean for food and drinks organisation 's? Well,

when the former Chancellor announced the original plan there was no

consultation. There was no consultation with manufacturers.

From our point of view very importantly there was no

consultation with the 5600 convenience store retailers in

Scotland and the case for this tax has simply not been made. For

example it -- in Scotland, there is no clarity around how it will be

used. The government itself is very much in the dark so we welcome some

consultation on it but we think this will be an ineffective policy which

will really just put jobs and investment at risk. Well, you seem

to have the ear of Theresa May, the newly appointed Prime Minister, she

is actually expected to overrule some of the elements that were going

to be in the original plan. For example restrictions on advertising

and promotional deals with junk foods. That is likely to be removed

from this plan. Now, campaigners are saying that is a really bad idea

because that will water down the proposals, and therefore they will

be less effective. Now she is arguing we need to protect jobs in

the food industry. Well, the original proposal very much ignored

the already considerable steps of the industry had taken in this area.

Between 2010 and 2014, the purchase of regular soft drinks declined by

more than 30%. So I think consumers are already moving in the right

direction with this. And this type of intervention is really very

unlikely to have a significant calorie reduction, but could really

put jobs and investment at risk in what is already a very challenging

economic times for retail, and a very uncertain economic times in the

wake of Brexit. Thank you for joining us. We are running out of

time unfortunately but it is a story we will revisit in time.

Japan's exports suffered their sharpest monthly fall in seven

years in July, as a surging yen hurts the country's trade,

shipments of cars, ships and steel all tumbling.

Mariko Oi is in our Asia Business Hub in Singapore.

Lovely to see you. Just fill us in. Not good news from Japan. No, not at

all. It is the curse of being a safe haven currency. Investors love to

buy in Japan when things get risky and there are reasons why things

have been getting nervous, including Brexit. The Japanese yen has

strengthened the low 100 yen against the US dollar twice this week and

shortly after the EU referendum in the UK, and that is all hitting the

export sector, exports down some 14%. That is the biggest fall in

seven years. At thanks to low oil prices imports were also down so

Japan is still in a trade surplus which is good news. Art, while the

government continues to pump billions of dollars into the

economy, trying to jumpstart the economy, this news is definitely not

good news. Let's have a look at how the yen is trading right now so you

can have a sense of how it is going. The dollar has weakened

significantly following the Federal Reserve's units from the US central

bank, which dampens prospect of an increase in rates this year. So the

dollar has weakened quite a bit. The yen is strengthening. You can see

the main market in Japan is down by 1%. Contrast that with Hong Kong and

other markets in Asia which are doing better. Rent crude has really

improved on where we were earlier at the end of last week. That is how

things ended on Wall Street. I will see you soon.

Thousands of students receive their A-level results

in England, Wales and Northern Ireland today.

Results are expected to be broadly similar to last year,