:00:00. > 3:59:59knife. Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from
:00:00. > :00:21.Singapore. All eyes on China. Fresh trade
:00:22. > :00:27.figures show a fall in exports and imports for March. And India's
:00:28. > :00:29.voters are heading to the polls in more than 14 states across the
:00:30. > :00:36.country. Hello and welcome to Asia Business
:00:37. > :00:43.Report. I'm Sharanjit Leyl. Starting with China. Fresh trade figures for
:00:44. > :00:49.the month of March show X boards have fallen 6.6%, compared to
:00:50. > :00:54.previous years. `` exports. Imports have fallen by 11%. These numbers
:00:55. > :01:01.follow a fall in exports in February as well, with fresh concerns over
:01:02. > :01:05.trade. Analysts believe trade will play a lesser role in the way the
:01:06. > :01:15.mainland's government will manage the ongoing expansion of its
:01:16. > :01:19.economy. We think this is the start of a period of adjustment for the
:01:20. > :01:23.Chinese economy, where trade starts to play a smaller role in the
:01:24. > :01:29.overall growth picture. This is partly by design and partly as a
:01:30. > :01:34.result of the downturn in the economy in China. Trade is dependent
:01:35. > :01:36.on the external picture. That picture is stable. We expect
:01:37. > :01:42.external demand to be relatively intact. Overall, policymakers in
:01:43. > :01:44.Beijing want to reduce the vulnerability of the economy and
:01:45. > :01:51.reduce the potential for shocks that they experienced in 2008 and 2009,
:01:52. > :01:54.when the financial crisis hit. You call this an adjustment by the
:01:55. > :02:00.Chinese authorities. It also announced a mini stimulus of sorts
:02:01. > :02:03.last week. They hope that will help lift some of the slowdown projected
:02:04. > :02:09.for the economy. You see that happening? I think what the stimulus
:02:10. > :02:13.really is moving some projects forward, that were scheduled for
:02:14. > :02:16.later this year, to see what that does for the coming couple of
:02:17. > :02:21.quarters. Towards the end of the year they may reassess things.
:02:22. > :02:27.Overall, they are really not keen on bailing out a lot of the accesses.
:02:28. > :02:32.They want to find a way to ease out of the previous cycle of credit and
:02:33. > :02:36.growth. These kinds of projects and infrastructure transport, these are
:02:37. > :02:40.relatively good ways to do that. I think there may be more to come
:02:41. > :02:45.later this year, if growth continues to weaken, but we don't see this as
:02:46. > :02:48.much of a stimulus, more stabilisation may be a better word
:02:49. > :02:57.to use. I think they will reassess when we get to June and July. To
:02:58. > :03:00.India, where Walmart is going head`to`head with its plans to build
:03:01. > :03:05.another 50 wholesale stores within the next five years. That's despite
:03:06. > :03:09.possible policy changes that could arise, should the new government win
:03:10. > :03:14.the election. Today could mark a turning point in those elections, as
:03:15. > :03:19.voters go to the polls in more than 14 states across the country. For
:03:20. > :03:24.more on the retail sector and how it will impact voters, we can go to our
:03:25. > :03:33.correspondent in Delhi. Good morning. Why is the retail sector so
:03:34. > :03:38.controversial in these elections? It has been one of the most politically
:03:39. > :03:43.controversial policies. India's retail sector was opened up to
:03:44. > :03:49.foreign investment 51% in multibrand retail and 100 `` 100% in single
:03:50. > :03:54.brand retail one year ago but we still haven't seen any multibrand
:03:55. > :03:58.retail stores open up shop here. Walmart exists as a wholesale store
:03:59. > :04:03.in India but it is surprising to many that they made an announcement
:04:04. > :04:08.to open 50 more stores. No one has doubt the potential of India's $500
:04:09. > :04:12.billion retail market at what has been controversial is the political
:04:13. > :04:17.opposition to this decision. Because most of India's retail sectors are
:04:18. > :04:22.organised and many of those are small corner stores, who are key
:04:23. > :04:27.voters of the opposition party, traditionally. So, in its
:04:28. > :04:31.manifesto, the BJP has already says that if it comes into power it will
:04:32. > :04:36.scrap the policy. They are pretty rigid about this. Quite surprising
:04:37. > :04:41.that Walmart has decided to go ahead with the announcement. Surprising
:04:42. > :04:47.and potentially very risky. What are the odds the BJP will be able to
:04:48. > :04:51.follow through with this manifesto? Very strong, because this is one of
:04:52. > :04:55.the key points, but they haven't budged on before. Like I said, are
:04:56. > :05:01.key voters come from this constituency, small traders, small
:05:02. > :05:07.shops, 90% of the retail sector in India. Even with the existing
:05:08. > :05:10.policy, the state has an equal say about whether they want it or not.
:05:11. > :05:17.Not just the BJP but even the latest entrant in the political scenario,
:05:18. > :05:22.even that party has a policy because their voters are small traders.
:05:23. > :05:24.Worst of them fear loss of jobs and they fear that big retailers will
:05:25. > :05:29.come and sweet down into the retail market here. At the Congress party,
:05:30. > :05:34.which brought in the legislation, the `` believes it can improve the
:05:35. > :05:38.supply chain system. The food management is pretty poor in the
:05:39. > :05:45.country. They feel they can generate more jobs. Thank you for that.
:05:46. > :05:51.In other news making headlines, to Gotye recalling 6.4 million vehicles
:05:52. > :06:00.over five separate issues. `` Toyota. Issues include problems with
:06:01. > :06:02.the airbag, seat rails, with screenwriters and a glitch with the
:06:03. > :06:08.engine starters. That poses a fire risk. `` screen wipers. The carmaker
:06:09. > :06:14.said it wasn't aware of any injuries or crashes caused by the conditions.
:06:15. > :06:17.The Bank of America will pay $783 million in fines and refunds to
:06:18. > :06:22.settle accusations that it misled customers about its credit card
:06:23. > :06:26.services. Some $45 million of that will be paid on penalties to US
:06:27. > :06:31.regulators. The pay`out relates to the lending giant's marketing of its
:06:32. > :06:41.payment and protection services between 2012 and 2010. In a study in
:06:42. > :06:45.financial stability, the IMF, referred to as the lender of last
:06:46. > :06:49.resort, warned the issue poses a big risks to growth prospects in
:06:50. > :06:55.emerging markets. Our correspondent in Washington. She has been speaking
:06:56. > :07:00.to the IMF's director of monetary and capital markets. One topic
:07:01. > :07:04.discussed inside the headquarters of the IMF is Howard years of cheap
:07:05. > :07:12.credit has led to a rise in corporate debt. In fact, in emerging
:07:13. > :07:17.economies, its a level not seen since the financial crisis, which is
:07:18. > :07:20.worrying some people here. I was told the prospect of lower interest
:07:21. > :07:25.rates and slower growth could mean that some companies in emerging
:07:26. > :07:30.markets will have difficulty paying back some of the money they have
:07:31. > :07:35.borrowed. Bite of the corporate debt in emerging markets, a significant
:07:36. > :07:40.fraction, would be at risk. `` much of the. 35% of the corporate debt in
:07:41. > :07:44.many emerging markets, specifically, would be owned by
:07:45. > :07:50.firms which will have difficulties in servicing their obligations.
:07:51. > :07:54.Given the IMF's worries about corporate debt, I also asked what
:07:55. > :08:00.lessons could be learned from the recent failure of a Chinese company
:08:01. > :08:07.that defaulted on its debt. This led him to address another concern.
:08:08. > :08:10.China's shadow banking system. It is very important that, given the
:08:11. > :08:14.growth in the non`bank financial sector in China, the so`called
:08:15. > :08:22.shadow banking system, that it is very important that these sorts of
:08:23. > :08:27.small defaults can play in taking out the hazard and making investors
:08:28. > :08:33.and savers feel aware of the risks which are SO shade with the high
:08:34. > :08:39.returns. The IMF wants to see greater local cooperation. But as
:08:40. > :08:43.ever with countries facing different challenges and at different stages
:08:44. > :08:51.of development that will be easier said than done.
:08:52. > :08:55.The World's Largest Busk producer in China is hoping to set a new record
:08:56. > :09:02.on the Hong Kong stock exchange. `` world's largest pork producer. It
:09:03. > :09:07.has hired 29 banks to work on the initial offering, which is said
:09:08. > :09:12.could raise up to $6 million. I asked about the upcoming listing.
:09:13. > :09:18.The listing in Hong Kong is directly related to that deal. As you
:09:19. > :09:26.recall, that was a very expensive deal at the time. $4.7 billion, US,
:09:27. > :09:29.paid for the company. But if you also include the amount of debt that
:09:30. > :09:32.the Chinese company had to assume, the pricetag really balloons even
:09:33. > :09:37.further come to more than $7 billion, US. As you can imagine,
:09:38. > :09:42.that's a lot of money to be owing to creditors banks. What we understand
:09:43. > :09:47.is that the main purpose of this listing is to raise money from
:09:48. > :09:51.investors to pay down the debt, to improve its financial standing.
:09:52. > :10:00.According to the Reuters news agency, it will be offering these
:10:01. > :10:06.shares between eight dollars, Hong Kong, to $11 per share. That implies
:10:07. > :10:10.a price to earnings ratio of between 15 and 20. That's a way for
:10:11. > :10:15.investors to decide how expensive or cheap that share is. So, according
:10:16. > :10:21.to fund managers, they are saying that this price looks fairly fed
:10:22. > :10:25.because of course now this company is competing not just against
:10:26. > :10:31.Chinese companies at the biggest food makers in the world.
:10:32. > :10:39.That brings us to the end of this edition of Asia Business Report.
:10:40. > :10:47.The main stories: Oscar Pistorius has faced a tough cross`examination
:10:48. > :10:53.by the prosecution for the first time in the trial of the `` killing
:10:54. > :10:56.of his girlfriend. Internet users are advised to change their
:10:57. > :11:01.passwords under what has been described as a catastrophic floor
:11:02. > :11:02.found in a type of security