:00:00. > :00:00.independent review had concluded that unbranded packets would help
:00:00. > :00:00.cut smoking rates and make cigarettes less attractive to
:00:00. > :00:14.children. Now it is time for Asia Business Report. Feeding the nation.
:00:15. > :00:19.China's recent moves to secure food supplies. Can we expect better times
:00:20. > :00:33.ahead for the global shipping industry? Welcome to Asia Business
:00:34. > :00:38.Report. We start with China's efforts to provide a secure food
:00:39. > :00:42.supply for its booming population. That has led to some huge business
:00:43. > :00:45.deals. This week China's largest grain trader seals its biggest
:00:46. > :00:46.global deal to date, with the purchase of a majority stake in
:00:47. > :00:51.Singapore 's Noble Group. global deal to date, with the
:00:52. > :01:04.purchase of a They are making an initial payment of $1.5 billion.
:01:05. > :01:09.purchase of a They are making an initial payment The deal comes just
:01:10. > :01:12.weeks after they also bought a big stake in a Dutch agricultural
:01:13. > :01:15.trader. Their acquisitions will help China shore up support supplies of
:01:16. > :01:21.animal feed. I asked a law specialist what implications this
:01:22. > :01:22.will have? What is clear is that China has prioritised stockpiling
:01:23. > :01:32.agricultural commodities within its national policy.
:01:33. > :01:35.China has prioritised stockpiling agricultural commodities One, as a
:01:36. > :01:39.way of guaranteeing incomes, but also as a way of keeping food
:01:40. > :01:43.inflation in check. It has done this mainly by securing supplies
:01:44. > :01:56.domestically. There has been a subtle shift in policy recently.
:01:57. > :02:03.China has lowered the threshold. Moving to about 90% to 80%. What
:02:04. > :02:05.that means is that they are looking outside China for a supply which can
:02:06. > :02:07.help improve supplies for agricultural commodities
:02:08. > :02:10.domestically. Therefore, we see more consolidation in the industry as
:02:11. > :02:22.China looks through the supply chain and tries to acquire capability
:02:23. > :02:27.where it has seen deficits. As you say, China is doing this for a
:02:28. > :02:30.number of reasons, as you say. Insufficient funding resources they
:02:31. > :02:32.have to meet their food and so on. Will this have implications
:02:33. > :02:35.internationally? Will prices rise? There are other factors like bad
:02:36. > :02:42.weather and political tensions and so on. Absolutely. Obviously, China
:02:43. > :02:49.is an important importer of a number of key commodities, particularly
:02:50. > :02:56.feed meal like soy beans. When China goes into the market, prices move
:02:57. > :03:03.up. Apart from China, there are other issues. As you rightly
:03:04. > :03:06.mentioned, very dry weather in Brazil recently and parts of India
:03:07. > :03:10.which undermines key agricultural commodity yields. In addition to
:03:11. > :03:14.that, you have got geopolitical tensions in Ukraine which is a grey
:03:15. > :03:23.trading hub for seeds and wheat and that is adding to the momentum.
:03:24. > :03:31.Earlier this week we mentioned how China will embark on a stimulus
:03:32. > :03:37.package to boost growth. The government has said it will cut
:03:38. > :03:40.taxes on small firms and speed up infrastructure projects. What is
:03:41. > :03:43.interesting about this latest development is the way China plans
:03:44. > :03:46.to paper that stimulus. Our chief business correspondent explains. If
:03:47. > :03:49.China was not worried about hitting its growth target of 7.5%, then it
:03:50. > :03:53.would not be trying to boost growth through government spending on
:03:54. > :03:56.railways and infrastructure. What is different this time, as compared to
:03:57. > :03:58.the assistance package after the 2008 global financial crisis is that
:03:59. > :04:06.the Chinese government is borrowing from bond markets to finance it. In
:04:07. > :04:09.the past, they relied on local governments borrowing from
:04:10. > :04:16.state`owned banks to pay for the stimulus which led to concerns about
:04:17. > :04:18.a build`up of debt. Some of the government spending is just pushing
:04:19. > :04:23.forward infrastructure projects such as rail, social housing, which had
:04:24. > :04:35.been planned. The exhilaration itself as a sign of concern. ``
:04:36. > :04:38.acceleration. It is what China did in 2009 when it injected fresh
:04:39. > :04:41.stimulus to support the economy alongside planned spending on roads
:04:42. > :04:44.and railways. At the time, it was criticised for not spending enough
:04:45. > :04:47.on social welfare that could boost easier way to grow for China. As a
:04:48. > :04:59.consumption`based investment is an result, an excessive reliance on
:05:00. > :05:02.credit was another worrying legacy. So, this new stimulus is pushing
:05:03. > :05:05.output forward to help China meet its growth target this year. Many
:05:06. > :05:08.countries would not worry about coming in below an impressive 7.5%
:05:09. > :05:14.growth rate but, for Chinese officials, targets are not to be
:05:15. > :05:16.missed. It certainly is a sign that they are worried that financing the
:05:17. > :05:19.fiscal stimulus measures by the Central government and bond markets,
:05:20. > :05:35.rather than local governments and bank lending. It is progress. The US
:05:36. > :05:37.is urging Japan to open up its farm and auto markets to overseas
:05:38. > :05:39.competition. US trade representatives told US lawmakers
:05:40. > :05:45.that the reluctance to lower trade barriers is holding up the agreement
:05:46. > :05:54.on the ambitious 12`nation TPP. All eyes are on Japan, not just Europe
:05:55. > :05:57.but all of us. Japan needs to provide competitive access to their
:05:58. > :06:02.market, both the agricultural side and other sides. We are reminding
:06:03. > :06:06.Japan what it and all TPP members agreed to when they joined TPP. This
:06:07. > :06:17.is intended to be a high standard, ambitious, conference agreement. ``
:06:18. > :06:20.comprehensive agreement. One country cannot feel entitled to take off the
:06:21. > :06:23.table and exclude vast areas of market access while other countries
:06:24. > :06:27.are putting more ambitious offers on the table. Barack Obama will press
:06:28. > :06:29.on the case for the TPP deal to go through with the Japanese prime
:06:30. > :06:33.ministers when he visits Japan later this month. Washington had hoped to
:06:34. > :06:38.complete the trade deal by the end of last year but the timetable has
:06:39. > :06:44.now moved to sometime this year. The CEO of Mozilla has stepped down. He
:06:45. > :06:48.was appointed last month but came in for heavy criticism about his views
:06:49. > :06:51.on same`sex marriage. He had made a $1000 donation in 2008 to
:06:52. > :07:06.organisations supporting an anti`gay marriage law. His resignation comes
:07:07. > :07:13.days after online dating site OKCupid called for a boycott of
:07:14. > :07:19.Mozilla. For more on that and other corporate headlines from around the
:07:20. > :07:22.world, you can go to our website. The shipping industry offers a good
:07:23. > :07:25.gauge of the state of the global economy as a way of tracking demand
:07:26. > :07:32.through movement of traded goods. After a downturn last year there are
:07:33. > :07:35.now some glimmers of hope. The fourth`largest port operator in the
:07:36. > :07:43.world earned a higher net profit last year in Dubai. Is there a more
:07:44. > :07:49.rosy outlook? In the near term? Earlier we spoke to an expert on
:07:50. > :07:59.shipping. We expect 2014 to be a better year than 2013 in terms of
:08:00. > :08:04.the fundamental market values. `` balance. Pressure will be put on the
:08:05. > :08:07.commercial market. Demand will outstrip supply, and most major
:08:08. > :08:15.shipping segments will grow. We are confident of earnings that will go
:08:16. > :08:18.higher. You say that demand will outstrip supply, but that will not
:08:19. > :08:22.be what we have seen from the major port operators, for example in Dubai
:08:23. > :08:28.and China. They have not had great results recently, so this does not
:08:29. > :08:32.suggest that demand will pick up. We see definitely that the exports will
:08:33. > :08:38.go from Far East Asia to Europe, and they will become stronger. We also
:08:39. > :08:41.heard that the Chinese Prime Minister said that he is looking at
:08:42. > :08:51.strong exports even though China is on track for a softer landing and
:08:52. > :08:59.rebalancing of the economy. Towards more private consumption, as
:09:00. > :09:03.compared to previous years when there was more investment and public
:09:04. > :09:10.demand. You talk about this switch in the Chinese economy moving away
:09:11. > :09:15.from exports. A lot of those are on ships to the rest of the world. How
:09:16. > :09:19.will China's moving away from that alter sense of growth and trajectory
:09:20. > :09:23.of the shipping industry? Shipping demand will be negatively affected,
:09:24. > :09:34.but it will come as a pricetag. The Chinese economy will be more
:09:35. > :09:39.sustainable. In the growth model in coming years. When you compare that
:09:40. > :09:45.to the growth now seen in the US and Europe, the counterbalancing should
:09:46. > :09:49.be positive for the global economy. And for the shipping industry as
:09:50. > :09:52.such. When you look at the world from the widest perspective, we see
:09:53. > :09:55.it as economies are taking a smaller share of the global GDP even though
:09:56. > :10:05.more trade is generated in advanced economies. We are foreseeing a new
:10:06. > :10:22.normal in global trade and a slower demand growth going forward. A quick
:10:23. > :10:26.look at the markets. Mostly lower. Most markets here in Asia are down.
:10:27. > :10:29.The US jobs report is due out later today. That is partly why there is
:10:30. > :10:39.caution in the markets today. That's it from us at Asia Business Report.
:10:40. > :10:42.You are watching BBC News. These are our top stories.