:00:00. > :00:00.case review into the death of Daniel Pelka, a four`year`old who was
:00:00. > :00:00.murdered by his mother and step`father in 2012. Now on BBC News
:00:00. > :00:13.all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:24.China's currency strategy. And looking outside. Nepal considers
:00:25. > :00:35.opening up its tourism sector to foreign operators.
:00:36. > :00:40.Welcome to Asia Business Report. The value of the Chinese yuan has fallen
:00:41. > :00:46.to its lowest level in almost a year. This follows a move in the
:00:47. > :00:50.People's Bank of China which widened the trading band to allow it to move
:00:51. > :00:58.up to 2% from the daily midpoint it set daily. There is speculation that
:00:59. > :01:02.China's Central Bank. Earlier I spoke to the head of the Asian
:01:03. > :01:11.currency trading who offered this analysis. I think this is a measure
:01:12. > :01:18.designed to shake out the massive currency speculators that have been
:01:19. > :01:25.betting on the currency appreciating. They have Merv to ``
:01:26. > :01:33.move to an objective which of course is to move towards a domestic led
:01:34. > :01:37.growth model. To boost growth. So you are saying this is not a
:01:38. > :01:44.long`term strategy. But what about the volatility? That might cause
:01:45. > :01:54.trouble, surely. There are some exported in China likely to be hit.
:01:55. > :01:59.I think it has a shelf life perhaps another two or three weeks and after
:02:00. > :02:06.that, it will be back to business as usual. I think we'll resume the
:02:07. > :02:09.appreciation path. As with any autocratic, political regime, they
:02:10. > :02:15.will be worried about social unrest. If you undermine that currency and
:02:16. > :02:19.reduce people 's purchasing power in the process, it creates inflation.
:02:20. > :02:24.That will not go down well and that is something they will want to VoIP
:02:25. > :02:29.at all cost. We know we asked seeing something of weaker growth going on
:02:30. > :02:35.in China at the moment. This is after years of massive growth. Could
:02:36. > :02:39.that potentially have an impact, is this what we are seeing reflected in
:02:40. > :02:48.the yuan? Her there are many ways to combat slowing growth. Many ways you
:02:49. > :02:52.can expand fiscal policy. Yes, it is one measure but it is a blunt tool.
:02:53. > :02:59.I am utterly convinced that they would not use that at all. China's
:03:00. > :03:02.President will leave for a European Tour this weekend as well as
:03:03. > :03:05.attending the nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on Sunday. He is
:03:06. > :03:11.scheduled to visit France, Germany and Belgium. The EU is China's
:03:12. > :03:15.biggest trading partner. There has been talk that China could be
:03:16. > :03:19.signing a deal with Airbus with as much as $20 billion to purchase a
:03:20. > :03:25.passenger jet. Staying with China, the country's largest wheel and gas
:03:26. > :03:29.reducer and $21 billion for last year. That is a 12% jump from 2012.
:03:30. > :03:34.In addition to the earnings announcement, the company said it is
:03:35. > :03:39.cutting capital spending for the second year in a row as it works
:03:40. > :03:45.towards living shareholder security. It started half a year ago as part
:03:46. > :03:53.of an anti`corruption drive. China's Internet giant has arrested $250
:03:54. > :03:56.million. That is a U.S.`based free messaging service. They are hopeful
:03:57. > :04:02.that buying into the company will help strengthen it presents in the
:04:03. > :04:06.mobile messaging sector. The deal comes after Facebook announced plans
:04:07. > :04:11.to acquire What's App from $19 billion. Meanwhile, China Mobile,
:04:12. > :04:17.the world 's biggest phone company saw a 6% drop in profit. That is the
:04:18. > :04:23.first declined over ten years. The Beijing `based company raked in $20
:04:24. > :04:28.billion. China Mobile said the fall was due to higher cost and intends a
:04:29. > :04:35.petition. The phone company has been spending heavily to roll out fourth
:04:36. > :04:40.generation services. It is investing around $7 billion to build that
:04:41. > :04:46.network. Twitter said it is looking into reports that its service has
:04:47. > :04:50.been banned in Turkey. It has sent out an advisory informing users in
:04:51. > :04:54.Turkey it was possible to send out tweets using mobile phone text
:04:55. > :05:03.messaging. We will have more on that on the BBC website. Can you rent out
:05:04. > :05:06.Paradise? That is what Nepal is considering. They want to lease out
:05:07. > :05:13.some of the countries Himalayan peaks to private companies in return
:05:14. > :05:20.for EC. It would open up an visited mountains to attract more climbers.
:05:21. > :05:25.The majestic beauty of the Himalayas. Some describe this as the
:05:26. > :05:31.Switzerland of the East. These are all geeks have captivated tourists
:05:32. > :05:38.for decades. Bringing in much`needed revenue for Nepal. Nepal earned
:05:39. > :05:46.around $350 million from last year. The second biggest foreign income
:05:47. > :05:51.earner from abroad. Still, it is not enough for the demands of a growing
:05:52. > :05:54.population. Now, the government is considering a raft of new measures
:05:55. > :05:59.to attract more climbers and tourist. Home to eight of the
:06:00. > :06:03.highest mountains in the world, Nepal has been a paradise for
:06:04. > :06:07.adventure seekers. Offering them ultimate challenges. Now, it wants
:06:08. > :06:14.to capitalise on it pristine natural beauty. Apart from these well`known
:06:15. > :06:18.attractions like Mount Everest, it was to allow private companies to
:06:19. > :06:24.lease some of the unexplored peaks to boost the tourism industry. It
:06:25. > :06:30.was to hire out some of the more than 300 Himalayan peaks are
:06:31. > :06:34.currently open. The government has also announced a sharp cut in
:06:35. > :06:42.mountaineering fees. TRANSLATION: There are two things. Trackers
:06:43. > :06:46.coming to Nepal can climb peaks only up to five and a half thousand
:06:47. > :06:51.metres. Now, they can climb new peaks which are more than 6000
:06:52. > :06:54.metres. It will definitely increase the number of new tourists and
:06:55. > :06:59.mountaineers, looking for adventure. We have already received the frozen
:07:00. > :07:07.from investors to build hotels these mountains. Tour operators have
:07:08. > :07:15.already welcomed the proposals. With the new strategies, officials hope
:07:16. > :07:22.to boost revenue. Despite its ambitious targets, Nepal still faces
:07:23. > :07:27.a number of issues. Not least a lack of adequate infrastructure. It needs
:07:28. > :07:35.to improve its notorious roads and recent record on safety. Nepal has
:07:36. > :07:42.natural beauty. The challenges, how to convert it pristine nature into a
:07:43. > :07:51.must visit tourist destination. Earlier I spoke to Steve Rose. It is
:07:52. > :07:55.company offers trips to Nepal and he has visited the country several
:07:56. > :08:02.times. I asked him how this new idea could affect his business. It will
:08:03. > :08:08.probably have a marginal a fact. It is greatly are opening up new peaks.
:08:09. > :08:15.That will create a short term demand as people want to do things like
:08:16. > :08:19.first offence. Ultimately, the relative cost of these peaks for
:08:20. > :08:29.Nepal is quite high compared to other places like Peru. While I can
:08:30. > :08:34.see the intention, they are trying to increase volume, it is a good one
:08:35. > :08:37.and that may have some effect. I don't think it is going to
:08:38. > :08:43.necessarily give the boost that they are expecting. That is interesting
:08:44. > :08:46.you say that because, obviously, there is the cost factor. You
:08:47. > :08:50.suggest those places where people could claim for free but how do you
:08:51. > :09:00.measure the cost to the environment? That is something Nepal
:09:01. > :09:02.is taking seriously. You have the environmental concerns and the fact
:09:03. > :09:09.that tourism development has on that. How do you Alan business and
:09:10. > :09:15.nature? Her the new initiative, as you suggested that climbers have to
:09:16. > :09:19.take kilos of rubbish down from Everest is a good one. It has been
:09:20. > :09:28.in place for a long time but will be enforced more strictly. The rubbish
:09:29. > :09:34.that exist up their would still be there, having said that, they sent a
:09:35. > :09:38.group of shoppers to climb Everest in 2010 to reduce the amount of
:09:39. > :09:43.rubbish on the mountain. In terms of spreading it more broadly, the
:09:44. > :09:49.owners is very much on the two operators. They should be
:09:50. > :09:55.responsible in terms of cleaning up after themselves.
:09:56. > :10:02.Let's take a look at Asian shares because they are taking their cues
:10:03. > :10:07.from the US where stocks rose on Thursday. That was thanks to
:10:08. > :10:13.stronger factory activity data which was stronger than expected. All that
:10:14. > :10:19.helps offset prospects of a rate hike. Asian markets, with the
:10:20. > :10:26.exception of Japan which is shut for a holiday, they are all rebounding
:10:27. > :10:28.from their big losses yesterday. That is it for this edition of Asia
:10:29. > :10:39.Business Report. I'm Mike Embley. The top stories
:10:40. > :10:40.this hour. Planes and ships off the