:00:00. > :00:00.Martin McGuinness. Now on BBC News all the latest business news live
:00:00. > :00:23.from Singapore. Top Chinese official arrives in
:00:24. > :00:26.Taipei in another sign of warming feelings between both sides.
:00:27. > :00:36.And new graphic warnings on cigarette packets.
:00:37. > :00:40.Welcome to Asia Business Report. China's top official for relations
:00:41. > :00:47.with Taiwan touches down in Taipei today for a series of meetings. He
:00:48. > :00:53.is not expected to eat any major agreements on this trip. He will be
:00:54. > :00:58.getting a better understanding of how ordinary people feel about the
:00:59. > :01:01.relationship. Will this softer approach counter political
:01:02. > :01:10.resistance to China? I asked our Taipei correspondent. It depends. He
:01:11. > :01:14.is coming amid major protests in Taiwan. Students occupied the
:01:15. > :01:17.Parliament to protest a controversial trade deal that
:01:18. > :01:21.Taiwan's government signed with China. Even though the agreement
:01:22. > :01:25.looked like it would benefit Taiwan's as this is by allowing it
:01:26. > :01:30.greater access to china's services sector, in many ways the public is
:01:31. > :01:37.still suspicious of china's intentions. Several years ago, the
:01:38. > :01:46.sides first began it living relations. `` improving. He will be
:01:47. > :01:51.talking to ordinary people, including farmers, villagers,
:01:52. > :02:01.students and professors. He will even visit a daycare centre. What
:02:02. > :02:08.has been the reaction so far to this trip? You have got some newspapers,
:02:09. > :02:15.what are they saying? It is all over the newspapers. This headline says
:02:16. > :02:20.that he will get a true sense of how Taiwanese people feel. It is a
:02:21. > :02:27.positive response. On the other hand, another newspaper have an
:02:28. > :02:31.interview with Hillary Clinton, warning that Taiwan becomes too
:02:32. > :02:37.economically dependent on China, it could influence its political
:02:38. > :02:43.independence. This newspaper also warns that China bringing its
:02:44. > :02:51.restrictions to Taiwan. Many of the reporters will have to have a
:02:52. > :02:55.variety of press passes. In other business News, China is
:02:56. > :03:00.reportedly planning to set up a global financial institution to
:03:01. > :03:02.rival the World Bank and the Asian development bank, according to the
:03:03. > :03:12.Financial Times. They believe that they are at too influenced by the US
:03:13. > :03:16.and its allies. It will be known as the Asian infrastructure investment
:03:17. > :03:25.bank. The Philippines laugh at a wider than expected trade
:03:26. > :03:35.shortfall. `` lodged. It is a six in a row. This came after Typhoon
:03:36. > :03:39.Haiyan struck. Japanese administrations Shinzo Abe
:03:40. > :03:43.has unveiled an ambitious package of reforms aimed at revitalising the
:03:44. > :03:49.economy. It is part of his so`called third arrow of structural changes.
:03:50. > :03:52.He will be putting more women into the workforce and restarting the
:03:53. > :03:56.country's mothballed nuclear reactors.
:03:57. > :04:01.It is not often that ministers pay much attention to provisions of
:04:02. > :04:04.economic statistics. But when it comes to the United States, the
:04:05. > :04:13.world's economy, everybody sits up to take notice. Much of Asia is
:04:14. > :04:16.dependent on trade with the US. Many will be waiting to see the third and
:04:17. > :04:26.final reading of its first`quarter growth numbers.
:04:27. > :04:32.This man designs and manufactures children's furniture. The start of
:04:33. > :04:36.the year was bleak. Orders did not return after the usual dip over the
:04:37. > :04:45.holidays. The drop in sales was very drastic. Usually it picks up again
:04:46. > :04:51.in the middle of January. This year it took until April. The US economy
:04:52. > :04:55.shrank in the first three months of this year, hurting businesses like
:04:56. > :05:02.this and raising fears that the US recovery was fading. Still, some say
:05:03. > :05:07.it is misleading to suggest the US is close to recession. It reflected
:05:08. > :05:12.the fact that in the second half of last year we saw a very strong
:05:13. > :05:22.pickup in growth that was driven by businesses than it was demand. That
:05:23. > :05:25.meant you had to have some slowdown. Even if the optimists are right and
:05:26. > :05:34.America is bouncing back, economists have been at forced to lower their
:05:35. > :05:37.growth forecasts for the year. For many Americans, this report will
:05:38. > :05:41.feel like they have taken one step forward, two steps back. But there
:05:42. > :05:46.are signs the world's largest economy is making progress, not
:05:47. > :05:50.least because of the improvement in the US labour market. Still, it is a
:05:51. > :05:56.reminder that the path to recovery does not always follow a strict
:05:57. > :06:00.line. Mexico is not a country you tend to
:06:01. > :06:06.hear about in this part of the world. But it is now courting Asian
:06:07. > :06:14.investors to help finance some major projects. The president is trying to
:06:15. > :06:20.kickstart sluggish growth by upgrading the ports, highways and
:06:21. > :06:25.waterworks. I spoke to the chief executive of the International
:06:26. > :06:29.bank, Mexico's biggest infrastructure back, and I asked if
:06:30. > :06:34.there was much interest. We have been coming to China, South Korea
:06:35. > :06:38.and Japan. This is the first time we came to Singapore. We are going to
:06:39. > :06:49.sign a very important memorandum of understanding. There have been a lot
:06:50. > :06:54.of concerns about the Mexican economy. We saw the currency
:06:55. > :07:01.dropping and investors pulling their money out. How difficult is it to
:07:02. > :07:05.convince investors? It depends on the investors. If you look at the
:07:06. > :07:10.performance of the Mexican economy in the short term, the numbers are
:07:11. > :07:21.there. But if you look at the potential reforms of the Mexican
:07:22. > :07:28.economy, we remain optimistic. Business opportunities have failed.
:07:29. > :07:36.But we plan to invest $190 billion in energy, water, security and some
:07:37. > :07:42.other applications that are coming into this part of the world. In Asia
:07:43. > :07:47.itself you have a lot of frontier markets like Burma, Indochina. Why
:07:48. > :08:00.should Asian investors go so far out of their way, to Mexico? It is about
:08:01. > :08:03.risk and return the. The risk is low and the return is significantly
:08:04. > :08:14.higher. You are going to be taking on the risk to a project and have a
:08:15. > :08:30.higher return. The new regulations in Indonesia
:08:31. > :08:33.will be putting graphic warnings on cigarette packets. We will be
:08:34. > :08:36.finding out about them on the streets of Jakarta.
:08:37. > :08:42.If you are a smoker in Indonesia, you can light up just about
:08:43. > :08:48.anywhere. You can smoke on the streets, in parks and public places.
:08:49. > :08:57.Even in some government offices. In India the `` Indonesia, more than
:08:58. > :09:01.half the population smokes. The government has been trying to cut
:09:02. > :09:06.them down, but they have not been successful. From this week, secret
:09:07. > :09:11.makers need to warn smokers of just how unhealthy the habit is.
:09:12. > :09:15.Cigarette packets will have graphic warnings that cover at least 40% of
:09:16. > :09:21.the package. But there was little evidence of those images at stalls
:09:22. > :09:27.in Jakarta today. The smokers has no idea about the new rules.
:09:28. > :09:32.TRANSLATION: I do not think it will make a difference as long as people
:09:33. > :09:34.still sell single stick cigarettes. The majority of Indonesian smokers
:09:35. > :09:41.are from poorer backgrounds and tends to get single sticks.
:09:42. > :09:45.TRANSLATION: I know a little bit about this new rule, but the will
:09:46. > :09:49.not have an impact, because smoking is an addiction for me. I would
:09:50. > :09:56.rather go hungry. If I cannot smoke, I cannot think. Cigarettes
:09:57. > :10:03.are extremely cheap in Indonesia, because tobacco taxes are so low.
:10:04. > :10:08.Activists say Indonesia needs to raise taxes on cigarettes. But that
:10:09. > :10:15.is challenging because the tobacco lobby is one of the most powerful in
:10:16. > :10:20.the country. A quick look at the markets. Asian
:10:21. > :10:26.shearers are lowering. They are taking cues from Wall Street. The US
:10:27. > :10:33.could ease restrictions on crude oil experts. That is it for this edition
:10:34. > :10:42.of Asia Business Report. Thank you for watching.
:10:43. > :10:43.Here are the headlines: In the US has begun