:00:00. > :00:00.out checks into the backgrounds of the crew and staff. Singapore is now
:00:00. > :00:19.ready. Here is the business. China lets its currency trade in a
:00:20. > :00:27.wider band, doubling against the US dollar. Ali Barber picks New York
:00:28. > :00:37.over Hong Kong for its share sale. -- Ali Baba. Welcome. China is in
:00:38. > :00:41.focus this morning after Beijing announced it will allow the currency
:00:42. > :00:45.to trade in a wider range starting today. The country's central bank
:00:46. > :00:51.says it will double the trading band against the US dollar to 2%. It
:00:52. > :00:54.underscores the promise that it would allow the market to play a
:00:55. > :00:58.greater role in the economy. It has been welcomed by the US Treasury.
:00:59. > :01:01.Washington and Beijing have frequently been locked in dispute
:01:02. > :01:08.over the value of the yuan. Here is the reaction in regional markets.
:01:09. > :01:15.Most markets are down. The Nikkei down 63 points. One other factor
:01:16. > :01:20.that will play into markets, geopolitical risks after the
:01:21. > :01:23.referendum in Crimea. Have voted overwhelmingly in favour of leaving
:01:24. > :01:29.the Ukraine to join Russia. Election officials in Crimea said turnout has
:01:30. > :01:33.been high at more than 80%. With half the votes counted, more than
:01:34. > :01:39.95% of ballots were in favour of joining Russia. The referendum has
:01:40. > :01:44.come under fierce criticism from the US and Europe. Earlier, I spoke to
:01:45. > :01:47.someone from the vast financial services in Sydney and asked about
:01:48. > :01:53.the significance of China widening the training range of its currency.
:01:54. > :01:57.-- trading. This is part of an ongoing process where the Chinese
:01:58. > :02:01.are allowing the currency to become more freely traded. It is a process
:02:02. > :02:07.that is slower than what some expected. It is part of a well
:02:08. > :02:12.thought out process. The last thing China wants to see from an
:02:13. > :02:18.artificially inflated currency is high inflation. They want to make
:02:19. > :02:23.sure it is conducted in an orderly way. This is all part of the
:02:24. > :02:31.process. Do you think it will now start to speed up? It will start to
:02:32. > :02:35.speed things up why Chinese standards but not necessarily by
:02:36. > :02:37.Western standards. In the developing markets, these things are well
:02:38. > :02:45.thought out. There is always caution. What we are seeing is the
:02:46. > :02:48.traders are seeing this as positive. The market is starting to see this
:02:49. > :02:53.as perhaps a greater leap than what we have seen in recent years.
:02:54. > :02:57.Interesting. China and weak economic news from Beijing weighed on the
:02:58. > :03:01.market last week. Obviously things are different this week. Also in
:03:02. > :03:06.terms of Crimea, now that we've had the referendum, Crimea was a huge
:03:07. > :03:11.factor for markets last week. What do you think we will see this week?
:03:12. > :03:15.A mixed picture so far. That's right. The market has almost
:03:16. > :03:19.entirely brushed this off because it was expected. What we are seeing in
:03:20. > :03:26.the Australian market, for example, and other met -- other Asian markets
:03:27. > :03:29.is the status quo. No fallout from the referendum outcome, which was
:03:30. > :03:34.expected. The one thing to watch is there are reports of a huge flight
:03:35. > :03:39.of capital outside the US by Russian nationals, back into Russia, in
:03:40. > :03:45.anticipation of sanctions. What we have seen in recent history is that
:03:46. > :03:52.it can cause instability in the market. We will watch the gold price
:03:53. > :03:54.closely, or ill and also pockets of investment where some Russian
:03:55. > :04:02.capital outside the US might find a home. -- oil.
:04:03. > :04:08.The world's large as e-commerce firm Alibaba has chosen New York over
:04:09. > :04:13.Hong Kong. It aims to raise $15 billion from this exercise, making
:04:14. > :04:17.it among the world's biggest public offering since Facebook raised $16
:04:18. > :04:21.billion last year. One of the main reasons Alibaba picked New York over
:04:22. > :04:25.Hong Kong is that exchanges in the US allow founders like Facebook's
:04:26. > :04:29.Mark Zuckerberg to remain control of their companies, even if they don't
:04:30. > :04:33.own a majority in shares. That scenario is not possible in Hong
:04:34. > :04:39.Kong. Our correspondent in Hong Kong has more.
:04:40. > :04:44.Sunday's statement from Alibaba makes it clear that they are now
:04:45. > :04:48.pursuing that listing in America. It's not clear which stock exchange
:04:49. > :04:52.in New York will win this deal but absolutely a lot of people are
:04:53. > :04:58.saying that it might even be bigger than the Facebook listing of 16
:04:59. > :05:04.billion US dollars. Something like nine out of the ten
:05:05. > :05:09.most recent IPOs in the tech sector have gone to the US, over Hong Kong.
:05:10. > :05:13.Is there any indication that there might be some flexibility from Hong
:05:14. > :05:23.Kong? Is one shareholder Boral, which they hold so tightly. --
:05:24. > :05:28.shareholder rule. Certainly the Hong Kong stock exchange writer has been
:05:29. > :05:33.talking about a reconsideration of the rules. We will see if that
:05:34. > :05:40.happens. Hong Kong is very proud of its rules. It believes the system is
:05:41. > :05:45.fair. Any change would be extremely heartfelt indeed. There could be a
:05:46. > :05:57.couple of mega listings later this year. One at the WH group.
:05:58. > :06:00.Smithfield is has reportedly said in some publications that it might
:06:01. > :06:09.raise as much as $16 billion in the first half of this year. The upbeat
:06:10. > :06:14.into that companies that have always traditionally preferred to list in
:06:15. > :06:18.New York. SoftBank shares are up by nearly 7%.
:06:19. > :06:27.That's following the news of Alibaba's IPO. It owns 37% of
:06:28. > :06:29.Alibaba. The group's business to business marketplace unit is already
:06:30. > :06:36.listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, listed in 2007. The latest
:06:37. > :06:39.figures from Singapore showed the nonoil domestic exports rose 9% in
:06:40. > :06:45.February, competitor same time last year. Shipments of electronics have
:06:46. > :06:49.fallen by more than 3% in the same month. That follows a 70% drop in
:06:50. > :06:55.the electorate of exports in January and more than 3% in December.
:06:56. > :07:01.Together, with China and Taiwan, it has made it a hub for the manic --
:07:02. > :07:06.manufacturing of a phonics, with a big focus on parts for personal
:07:07. > :07:11.computers. Singapore may now need to rethink its economic strategies.
:07:12. > :07:20.Earlier, I spoke to someone who explained the slowdown. Sales were
:07:21. > :07:27.down by about 12% in notebooks. It is really about the smartphones.
:07:28. > :07:31.That is driving things. A lot of that isn't manufactured in
:07:32. > :07:39.Singapore. It's all up in China. That's one area where there is an
:07:40. > :07:44.issue. Things will balance over. Electronic exports are very
:07:45. > :07:49.important. Do they have to start diversifying? Finding something else
:07:50. > :07:54.to fill the gaps? With any economy it is important to look at as much
:07:55. > :08:02.as possible. Electronics is still strong. Purchasing was strong last
:08:03. > :08:10.year. The island in a big recession, in terms of electronics, but it is
:08:11. > :08:15.slowing down. -- we aren't in a big. Things are heading down a more
:08:16. > :08:20.normal track. We have just gone over a little hump? Yes. It's not like it
:08:21. > :08:26.was five years ago. It is down. People are waiting for the coming
:08:27. > :08:34.out of the new iPhones and those sorts of things.
:08:35. > :08:38.Singapore's DDS bank will buy SocGen in a deal worth over $200 million.
:08:39. > :08:42.It covers the acquisition of their private banking equities in Hong
:08:43. > :08:49.Kong and Singapore, as well as selected parts of its trust unit.
:08:50. > :08:57.DDS is the largest lender in Southeast Asia. -- DBS.
:08:58. > :09:02.China will invest more than $150 billion this year to redevelop
:09:03. > :09:06.shanty towns, as the government promotes organisation as an engine
:09:07. > :09:08.of growth. Money will be spent on building more railways and
:09:09. > :09:15.increasing the number of small and medium-sized cities. According to
:09:16. > :09:20.the plans, rural residents employed in cities should see their incomes
:09:21. > :09:22.go up. Investment in urban infrastructure come up public
:09:23. > :09:26.facilities and housing will drive economic development. That's it for
:09:27. > :09:30.this edition of Asia Business Report. Thanks for the gym. -- for
:09:31. > :09:40.watching. The headlines: There have been
:09:41. > :09:45.celebrations in Crimea as people vote overwhelmingly in favour of
:09:46. > :09:50.leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. Of the referendum ballot papers
:09:51. > :09:53.counted so far, 95% are pro-Moscow. 25 countries are now involved in the
:09:54. > :09:55.search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, as investigators
:09:56. > :09:57.carry out checks into the backgrounds of the