:00:00. > :00:15.never been broadcast before. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:16. > :00:19.business news live from Singapore. China signs over $400 billion gas
:00:20. > :00:25.deal with Russia after a decade of talks. Singapore is ranked the world
:00:26. > :00:36.'s best place to do business for its sixth year. Thank you for joining
:00:37. > :00:41.us. The Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Shanghai to witness a
:00:42. > :00:46.landmark deal that will see Russia supplied China with natural gas for
:00:47. > :00:49.30 years. It marks a political triumph for Vladimir Putin who faces
:00:50. > :00:54.economic isolation in the West because of his actions in Ukraine.
:00:55. > :01:02.What exactly brought about this last`minute deal? Earlier I post but
:01:03. > :01:06.question to an energy expert from the University of Singapore. Russia
:01:07. > :01:12.has gas to sell, and it needs those dollars. China needs gas. Both sides
:01:13. > :01:16.have won overall. Until we know the price and how much China has to pay
:01:17. > :01:20.up front, we cannot say who was the winner. As of yesterday, when you
:01:21. > :01:27.were on the programme, there was no certainty as to whether a deal would
:01:28. > :01:35.be sealed, and it was only signed and delivered early evening Asia
:01:36. > :01:40.time. Could the deal have been, let's sign now, discuss price
:01:41. > :01:44.later? It looks that way, pricing is not something you can finalise in
:01:45. > :01:49.two or three hours. Maybe they agreed a price at the last minute,
:01:50. > :01:53.regardless of commercial considerations, or the president
:01:54. > :01:56.stood in and said, we have a deal, sort out the details later.
:01:57. > :02:02.Currently, no one knows. What does this agreement mean for the Chinese?
:02:03. > :02:07.It gives the Chinese in five years time and additional supply of gas
:02:08. > :02:13.which, at that time, will account for maybe 20% of their total
:02:14. > :02:16.consumption. It is good for them, and helps their energy consumption
:02:17. > :02:21.and will tackle the serious pollution problem. For the
:02:22. > :02:26.Russians? For the Russians, it gives them the money to develop the far
:02:27. > :02:29.Eastern gas fields which will support local developments and means
:02:30. > :02:36.they have new customers for their gas which, if Europe starts to turn
:02:37. > :02:41.away from Russia, works. These relations between the Chinese and
:02:42. > :02:50.the Russians, what does it mean for the geopolitical system? Going on in
:02:51. > :02:55.Asia now? I would not read too much into that. There has been an oil
:02:56. > :02:58.pipeline for nearly ten years running between both countries. It
:02:59. > :03:07.is a fairly pragmatic relationship, although they do share certain
:03:08. > :03:11.strategic concerns. Singapore is the best place in the
:03:12. > :03:16.world to do business, that is according to the latest survey by
:03:17. > :03:21.the Economist intelligence unit. It sees the city retain its number one
:03:22. > :03:29.spot as I am inventor `` as an investor friendly location. It looks
:03:30. > :03:38.at a number of indicators, including political stability and corporate
:03:39. > :03:49.tax rates. The cost of living and practical
:03:50. > :03:56.costs attract Singapore as a place for foreign companies to invest.
:03:57. > :03:59.However, it is not only about costs. When you think of the business
:04:00. > :04:01.environment, it is also about how easy it is to do business and what
:04:02. > :04:05.the quality of the business environment is. When we measure
:04:06. > :04:08.this, we look at ten different aspects of the business
:04:09. > :04:14.environment, ranging from political stability, through commercial laws
:04:15. > :04:18.and competition policy, all the way to the labour market and
:04:19. > :04:26.infrastructure and taxation. With Singapore, the cost is a constraint,
:04:27. > :04:29.but in other areas, it performs. In other business news making
:04:30. > :04:35.headlines, the US central bank has started discussing ways to exit
:04:36. > :04:40.their massive stimulus policy, to save it from a record low. According
:04:41. > :04:44.to the April minutes, they are exploring tools they could use to
:04:45. > :04:49.return the policy to normal by next year. The Fed has spent more than
:04:50. > :04:54.four daily `` $4 billion on purchases over the last five years
:04:55. > :04:58.to support the economy. EBay is asking its users to change as
:04:59. > :05:03.passwords after the company was hit by a cyber attack. The e`commerce
:05:04. > :05:09.giant said that the database containing personal information was
:05:10. > :05:14.compromised. It says no credit card information or financial information
:05:15. > :05:21.was stolen. JD .com has raised billions of dollars. The demand
:05:22. > :05:32.exceeded expectations with shares being priced at $19 per share at its
:05:33. > :05:41.debut on the technology heavy index. Shares have risen after the firm
:05:42. > :05:45.posted a 29% jump in profits, Lenovo have been making efforts to diverse
:05:46. > :05:52.away from the PC business. They bought motorail from Google for just
:05:53. > :06:04.under $3 billion. Will those bets pay off? `` Motorola. Looking at
:06:05. > :06:11.these numbers, it seems that smartphone sales are the name of the
:06:12. > :06:16.game. It is, they need to play into all of these markets. With mobile
:06:17. > :06:24.phones and tablets, to have a holistic strategy. How can motorail
:06:25. > :06:29.help? To help the business going forward `` Motorola. What Motorola
:06:30. > :06:32.brings to the table for them is a lot of batons that Motorola has in
:06:33. > :06:38.the telecom space. That can help them. They can work on their
:06:39. > :06:43.business. Motorola is a strong brand in the US market. Will it help them,
:06:44. > :06:46.basically, to narrow the gap at the top? With Samsung and Apple? I
:06:47. > :06:52.cannot say that right away they can narrow that gap, but it can help
:06:53. > :06:57.them get a bigger player in the market, with Motorola, the brand in
:06:58. > :07:04.the US. What about the personal computer business? How has Lenovo
:07:05. > :07:11.been successful in that declining market over the last two years? They
:07:12. > :07:16.have the supplied chain discipline to drive these high volume and low
:07:17. > :07:20.margin businesses, it has helped them to grow successfully in this
:07:21. > :07:26.market space, when a lot of them does have been struggling. Everyone
:07:27. > :07:33.has spoken about personal computers and tablets, smart phones, but the
:07:34. > :07:41.enterprise business has basically included storage and server
:07:42. > :07:48.business. How can Lenovo get through this business? The acquisition of
:07:49. > :07:52.these new businesses gives Lenovo the capability to expand into the
:07:53. > :07:56.server business outside of China. They have always had a server
:07:57. > :08:00.business in China, and have been pretty successful, but it can help
:08:01. > :08:08.them get access to enterprise customers outside of China. Thank
:08:09. > :08:12.you for your insights. Just over six months and is
:08:13. > :08:18.experiencing one of the world 's worst ever typhoons, the Philippines
:08:19. > :08:22.continues to expand at a fast pace. Growth rates in 2012 and 2013 are
:08:23. > :08:27.the quickest since the 1950s, how can that be after it was struck by
:08:28. > :08:31.such a devastating natural disasters so recently? Our correspondent
:08:32. > :08:35.explains. Six months ago, the Philippines was struck by one of the
:08:36. > :08:39.worst national disasters to hit land.
:08:40. > :08:43.The typhoon caused a massive loss of life and had a huge impact on the
:08:44. > :08:47.economy. It is estimated to cut the economic growth of the entire
:08:48. > :08:55.country by a huge one percentage point. But, the Philippines is still
:08:56. > :09:02.forecast to grow at 6.5% which would be the fastest in Asia except for
:09:03. > :09:11.China. How can that be? This outcome is due to reconstruction, rebuilding
:09:12. > :09:16.homes, and could add 3.5% GDP, that is from only what the government
:09:17. > :09:19.spends. The damage from the typhoon will be felt, especially towards the
:09:20. > :09:24.front of the year. But, with the offset from the government and
:09:25. > :09:28.driving reconstruction, the government `` the economy as a whole
:09:29. > :09:34.is expected to recover by the end of the year. Headline GDP figures will
:09:35. > :09:40.reassure businesses that the economy will be all right. But for those who
:09:41. > :09:45.have lost their homes and their livelihoods, rebuilding will not be
:09:46. > :09:49.easy when they do not have private insurance. For them, it does not
:09:50. > :09:54.matter what the big headline figures are but rather how quickly the
:09:55. > :09:59.growth can translate into means with which they can reconstruct their
:10:00. > :10:03.lives. For more stories from the
:10:04. > :10:07.Philippines, make sure you log on to the BBC website where we have a page
:10:08. > :10:16.dedicated to its people, and culture. Let's have a look at the
:10:17. > :10:20.Asian markets. All of the stocks are in positive territory after US
:10:21. > :10:44.equities bounced back from a previous sell`off. The I'm Mike
:10:45. > :10:47.Embley, the headlines: A man has been arrested in the United States
:10:48. > :10:50.after a woman, who says she was kidnapped a decade ago as a
:10:51. > :10:53.teenager, is found safe and well in California. Boko Haram militants in
:10:54. > :10:57.Nigeria are accused of killing at least 27 people, it comes after 122
:10:58. > :10:59.people died in two explosion in the city of Jos on Tuesday. The Home
:11:00. > :11:00.Secretary Theresa May has