15/05/2014 Asia Business Report

and Kate Middleton's phones between 2005 and 2006. Now on BBC News, all

the latest business news live from Singapore and Asia Business Report.

Glaxo Smith Kline's Chinese operations have him accused of

massive and systematic bribery. And why the Asian delicacy abalone is a

growing business for New Zealand. Thank you for joining us. Is China

becoming a more challenging place to do business? One of the world's

largest pharmaceutical companies is under pressure after Chinese

authorities accused a Glaxo Smith Kline executive of ordering staff to

bribe hospital officials to use the company's products. China is

accusing the company's former head of operations, Mark Riley, and two

other colleagues of running a massive bribery network. Mainline

officials arrested... Other companies have faced similar

accusations. Earlier, I spoke with our correspondent in Shanghai to

find out what the reaction has been to this latest development. The case

is being followed with interest. It is the biggest scandal to envelop a

foreign multinational company in a number of years. What is

interesting, I think, about this statement is that up until now,

reported in the foreign media quoting unnamed Chinese sources,

there was a sense that it would only be Chinese executives who were going

to be charged. This police ministry statement makes that look less

likely this morning. They have accused Mark Reilly of running this

massive bribery network. They appear to believe at the end of this

10`month investigation that they have evidence that the wrongdoing

was ordered from the top. Glaxo Smith Kline has over the course of

the investigation admits that some of its staff may have acted outside

of the company's guidelines but they have denied all along that there has

been any kind of systemic corruption. In response to these

allegations from the Chinese police, they have said that they will

continue to cooperate fully and wish to reach a resolution that will

enable the company to continue to make an important contribution to

the health and welfare of China and its citizens. What is the sentiment

on the ground? These foreign companies, as they become the target

of mainland officials in their anti`corruption campaign? You can be

certain that what has happened to Glaxo Smith Kline over the past year

and... This has reinforced even further... You can be certain that

this will have sent a chilling effect through the foreign business

community. There is a deep sense of nervousness. You can be certain that

other foreign drugs companies will have been looking very closely at

their own operations. The police have been looking at and speaking

with a number of them as well. Fresh figures from Japan reveal its

economy has grown by 1.5% in the three months to March compared to an

earlier quarter. The numbers... Consumer spending was up ahead of

the April one tax hike and capital spending increased beyond most

forecasts. Shares of Sony have fallen by more than 6% in Tokyo

trading after the company said it would remain unprofitable for the

next financial year. The company posted a loss of $1.2 billion for

the year to March. The report puts pressure on the chief executive, his

aim has been to turn the company around. A landmark ruling forcing

Google to remove search result has been described as astonishing by the

founder of Wikipedia. The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday

that an individual could demand that is relevant or outdated information

be deleted from the search results. Google says it is looking into the

implications of the decision. Launching a new smartphone in one of

the world's 's most populous countries is always a challenge.

Motorola is launching a new handset in India. One thing we have seen is

that the high`quality internet that the high`quality internet

experience has not been made available to many people around the

world. We are hoping to welcome a lot of people to their potentially

first smartphone experience. India is a highly competitive market. If

you get the price point right, the rewards are huge, but things can go

wrong very easily here. What are you expecting? Every international

vendor is here as well, so it is obviously a very exciting

marketplace. We have enjoyed great success here since we launched our

products in India and that is because we have a clear strategy. We

want to focus on clean and fast Android devices. We also want to

make products that keep getting better all the time. We want to

bring this to the consumer with an attractive price and we believe we

can be successful in this market with this strategy. You everything

you become a Chinese company. What is it like to operate under Lenovo?

We are not a Chinese company yet. The Lenovo acquisition will be

finalised later this year. But we are very excited because we have a

lot of momentum in Motorola in terms of our comeback to the market and

Lenovo has made it very clear that our brand is very important to

them. How easy is it to continue to innovate if your ownership keeps

changing? The team is the same and we are trying to address the key

issues in the most critical consumer points and we are trying to give an

experience to the consumer that is better than anything else that

anyone can give. That is very important to Lenovo. And with this,

we will have a better reach on a global level. In the Asia`Pacific

region, the shellfish abalone is a popular delicacy and it has a

pricetag to match it because fishing for it is heavily restricted. In

fact, illegal poaching resulted in the world's first ever underwater

arrest. New Zealand has one of the rarest types of the seafood and it

is reaping the rewards of the taste of Asia. It's known here by its

Indigenous name. Blackfoot abalone is only found in New Zealand waters

and its a delicacy. South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan take

a small share in exports but mainland China is the main consumer.

Even locally, it's expensive, around $45 US per shellfish. To find out

why, we joined this group of recreational hunter gatherers led by

a former Rugby Union All Blacks legend. It looks like a rock but you

can see the outline. There are laws regulating abalone. It's chilly out

there but this is what it is all about. The New Zealand abalone. This

is worth hundreds of dollars in some parts of the world. The shocking is

done straightaway. The texture is similar to calamari. It's chilly but

it has its own distinct flavour. The stake of the ocean. This is a group

called Power to the people. Last year, they successfully stood up to

computer `` commercial fisheries trying to open up these areas. They

wanted to make the catch is zero, which is understandable, but at the

end of the day, if they take everything away from our coastline

it's not good for the public. There is still plenty mess `` plenty left

for the commercial fishers. Andrew has been a commercial fishers since

the 1990s. Groundbreaking technology is at the forefront of

sustainability. If we do this consistently for three years, it

will be better than what we have done over the last 25 years.

Commercial fishers also follow strict guidelines. The exported

abalone industry is worth $43 million per year. Growth is limited

because of catch quotas but an increase in live exports could boost

profits. Fresh abalone can now get to the table from the seabed in 48

hours. Asian stocks are dipping from one month highs after the Dow Jones

industrial average... Thank you for investing your time with us. Goodbye

for now. The headlines: Police in