18/04/2014 Asia Business Report

several hours of those travelling to France. Time for Asia Business

Report. The head of China Resources, one of

the mainland's largest companies, is under investigation for corruption.

Cambodia's trade unions call for thousands of garment workers to go

on strike for higher wages. Hello and welcome. I'm Rico Hizon. We

start with China. The government's crackdown on corruption might have

been snared one of the heads of China's largest companies. The

chairman of China Resources is under investigation. I spoke to our Hong

Kong correspondent earlier this this is the second time he is fighting

corruption allegations. This is one of the world's largest

companies. Founded here in Hong Kong. Enormous diversity in its

business interests, from property to energy to retail. Also,

pharmaceuticals. You're right, the company has made headlines before.

We reported on this programme, in August, when a group of minority

shareholders in China Resources Power, one of the listed companies

initiated a court case. It accused a number of executives of misconduct

and of grossly overpaying for a mining deal back in 2010. Investors

said the assets they purchased were not worth so much money. They said

the taxpayer money was wasted in the transaction. The case is still

working its way through Hong Kong's court system. That case came to

light after two different journalists in China blew the

whistle on the company, accusing it of corruption.

What do we know about Song Lin? Is this a sign that no`one is immune?

That's right. It doesn't get bigger than this. Mr Lin is aged 51 and has

spent his entire career with China Resources. He holds a range that is

equivalent to vice minister. According to the South China Morning

Post, he has denied all wrong doing. This case is being seen, certainly,

as an extension of the new administration 's anticorruption

crackdown. Trade unions in Cambodia are hoping

as many as half of the country 's 600,000 garment workers won't be

showing up to work until they receive higher salaries. They also

want the release of 21 protesters who were imprisoned in the last

round of strikes in January. The picture has become muddled because

the organisation representing factory owners claims that many have

had extra time off due to the New Year. They will have to come

renegotiated because it is the will of the majority. The situation we

have predicted is that the majority of workers are willing at happy to

come to work. The minority continues to make demands. We will then

respect the wishes of the majority. Earlier I spoke to a Phnom pen

journalist and asked if the strikes were having any success. Most of the

factories right now aren't open. It is difficult to say whether workers

are following the strike or whether they are enjoying a few days of

holidays. Right now the industrial areas are empty. It is difficult to

say how successful the strikes have been. Higher wages, releasing more

than 20 protesters, how willing are workers to press their case moving

forward? During the last round of strikes in December and January,

they were stopped by government forces. Military police shot dead

five protesters, who were throwing Molotov cocktails. That has had a

chilling effect on workers. They are less likely to come out than they

were a few months ago. How strong are the trade unions? And how

organised are they in Cambodia? It's a fractured labour movement. Eight

unions are leading this strike, but there are hundreds in the country.

These eight unions claim to represent half the workforce. But

the Garment Manufacturing Association say they represent a

small minority. This is supposed to be a litmus test as to how strong

the independent labour movement is. China's home prices rose to the

slowest pace in March, easing concerns about the possible property

bubble on the mainland. According to government data, new home prices in

the major cities rose by 7.7% compared to one year ago. Beijing

and Shanghai saw among the biggest price increases.

China's version of Twitter, INAUDIBLE... As you heard

yesterday, the company is being closely watched as a gauge of

investor sentiment ahead of the e`commerce giant Alibaba's share

offering. Say that Corp gained as much as 7% on the NASDAQ after the

travel company raised almost $600 million from its initial public

offering. In US earnings, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have posted

better than expected earnings. Both saw profits lifted by their

investment management, merger and stock divisions. Shares both rose on

the news. Stocks of PepsiCo also gaining ground after profit

expectations, due to higher sales in their North American soda divisions.

The maker of potato chips and fruit juices saw revenues rising by 4%,

almost $13 billion, into three months ending in March.

With 100 million Facebook users and over 30 million Twitter accounts,

this is India's first digital election. Something that political

parties have taken note of, with almost all the major players putting

a chunk of their campaign budget toward social media spending and

other technologies. Are the traditional campaign rallies on the

wane? Just over 15% of India's 1.2 billion

people are online, but that is a considerable number of voters. Young

voters... INAUDIBLE. considerable number of voters. Young

who influence their families decisions. With an election as big

and diverse as India's election, the margins are very small and many

believe this time social media could possibly deliver the winning margin.

Getting the message across means setting up operations like this, the

digital war room of the opposition party. They are using an army of

volunteers, mainly young professionals, who have taken time

off from their jobs. They blog, monitor social media and perhaps,

most importantly, decide the strategy for what message the party

needs to send. In the online space, we believe we have a good campaign.

A small example, when Mr Modi speaks on the ground, the same message is

amplified on social media. The same rally is web casted live.

A smaller campaign is run by the recently formed Armada Party. While

spending a lot less money, they have managed to make most of the messages

via social media. They have their work cut out for them. Information

changes in seconds. When it comes to spreading misinformation, other

parties are good. They're good at spreading it. We have to keep our

eyes and ears open every second to know what is coming in, what is

going out and what is spread by other parties and how to counter

that. How effective is this? The BBC decided to find out. Looking at the

data for a month, we analysed how various parties performed online.

BJP and Narendra Modi were leading with over one million mentions on

Twitter. The anticorruption party, AAP, and their leader got over

600,000 tweets. The ruling Congress Party and Rahul Ghandi registered

just under 500,000 tweets. YouTube channel insures every word

continues... It is accepted the reach of social media remains

limited and that the views expressed their only reflect a section of

largely urban voters. That means no Indian politician is downgrading the

value of mass rallies just yet. Increasing the digital presence is

something we will see more of. You can get more of that story by

watching India Business Report this coming weekend.

Be sure to log onto our website. Click on the business section for

all the latest news. Thanks for watching.

The main news stories: A deal to calm tensions in Ukraine has been

reached in Geneva.