:00:00. > 3:59:59hopes the structure can be repaired. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:00. > :00:16.business news live from Singapore. John Kerry leads the first
:00:17. > :00:27.delegation to India since the elections in May. Striking a chord
:00:28. > :00:40.in Asia. How the parents of children like this young boy are driving
:00:41. > :00:44.growth for piano makers. Thank you for joining us for this
:00:45. > :00:47.edition of Asia Business Report. The American online retail giant Amazon
:00:48. > :00:53.is boosting its business in India with a $2 billion investment. John
:00:54. > :01:07.Kerry led a delegation to India for the first time since Narendra Modi
:01:08. > :01:12.won a landslide victory. Now we go to our correspondent.
:01:13. > :01:15.Even before he arrived, John Kerry was talking about the relations
:01:16. > :01:20.between the US and India with a promise to increase trade and
:01:21. > :01:23.investment. Now is the time to renew that dialogue with the new
:01:24. > :01:30.government and a new set of opportunities. New possibilities.
:01:31. > :01:39.This is a potentially transformative moment in our partnership. Despite
:01:40. > :01:46.the upbeat political rhetoric, relationships between the
:01:47. > :01:52.democracies are not at their best. A bitter fight over the arrest of an
:01:53. > :01:55.Indian official last year and disputes over trade and intellectual
:01:56. > :01:59.property have dominated ties. There are plenty of hurdles to clear.
:02:00. > :02:06.India is desperate for more energy. And it has its eye on cheap Shell
:02:07. > :02:09.gas imports from the US. At the moment it only sells gas to
:02:10. > :02:19.countries it has a free trade agreement with. India has no such
:02:20. > :02:22.deal but wants the US to open up the market. The US, on the other hand,
:02:23. > :02:35.is worried about protection of intellectual property, especially
:02:36. > :02:37.pharmaceuticals. India is clearly ambitious economically. India needs
:02:38. > :02:40.to be reaching out to all partners. We are pleased that the US is
:02:41. > :02:44.India's second largest trading partner. There was an enormous
:02:45. > :02:47.possibility for growth. Trade in goods and services between the US
:02:48. > :02:54.and India totalled almost $100 billion last year. A fivefold
:02:55. > :03:00.increase since 2000. Narendra Modi will visit the US later this year to
:03:01. > :03:04.meet President Obama. It could be a significant step to repairing the
:03:05. > :03:07.relationship between the countries. But some important ground work is
:03:08. > :03:14.likely to be done here in the next few days.
:03:15. > :03:26.The world's biggest economy has indeed bounced back. US economic
:03:27. > :03:30.output is expanding by 4%. That reverses a sharp 2.9% annual fall in
:03:31. > :03:39.the start of the year. The Federal Reserve said it would ease back on
:03:40. > :03:44.its stimulus efforts. US equities overnight perked up. The Central
:03:45. > :03:47.Bank reaffirmed that it is in no hurry to raise the cost of
:03:48. > :04:04.borrowing. As for Asian stocks, also in positive territory. We're seeing
:04:05. > :04:07.the Nikkei and Australia in the plus column. The US dollar has
:04:08. > :04:09.disappointed investors on its bias on monetary policy. Moving the
:04:10. > :04:17.technology. Samsung's second`quarter profits plunging nearly 20% from a
:04:18. > :04:19.year ago. That is over $6 billion. It is because of a slowdown in its
:04:20. > :04:22.smartphone business. The disappointing numbers are largely in
:04:23. > :04:24.line with the previous quarter. Nintendo shares are tumbling after
:04:25. > :04:34.bigger than expected first`quarter losses. It has posted a $97 million
:04:35. > :04:44.deficit in the three months to June compared and $84 million profit for
:04:45. > :04:47.the same period a year ago. Sales are down despite the release of
:04:48. > :04:51.Mario Kart in May. Microsoft's Xbox one is being launched in China in
:04:52. > :04:54.late September. The first main foreign games console to go on sale
:04:55. > :04:57.there in fourteen years. It comes in spite of an antimonopoly
:04:58. > :04:59.investigation into the US company by mainland authorities. In Hong Kong,
:05:00. > :05:03.the international conglomerate controlled by Asia's richest family
:05:04. > :05:11.will unveil its half`year results. It is not expected to deliver much
:05:12. > :05:15.in terms of profit growth. In part due to a slow of recent asset
:05:16. > :05:21.sales. Now we go to our correspondent.
:05:22. > :05:24.The telecoms conglomerate has had a busy year so far. In March, the
:05:25. > :05:28.billionaire behind the group sold the bulk of his stake in a container
:05:29. > :05:36.terminal. The deal raised questions about his continuing commitment to
:05:37. > :05:43.Hong Kong, a business focused city. Here, investors often look to him
:05:44. > :05:46.for guidance. Later in the same month, Hutchinson announced it would
:05:47. > :05:51.sell a quarter of its stake in the health and beauty chain Watsons for
:05:52. > :05:56.nearly $6 billion. He also decided to list his power assets on the Hong
:05:57. > :06:06.Kong stock exchange. It was not as successful as expected. Some
:06:07. > :06:10.investors said they were jittery. He did it in a three`month period by
:06:11. > :06:17.selling three major assets of his companies. That makes people think
:06:18. > :06:23.it might not be a very good value. It creates doubt for my clients.
:06:24. > :06:25.With so many high profile divestments this year, savvy
:06:26. > :06:32.investors are wondering if Hong Kong is no longer a great place to put
:06:33. > :06:38.one's money. TRANSLATION: That is why he decided to sell off the
:06:39. > :06:43.assets. I guess he thought the stock market was going to tank. He makes
:06:44. > :06:48.the product from Hong Kong. I think he will still stay in Hong Kong. He
:06:49. > :06:52.said he is not abandoning Hong Kong for greener pastures, saying the
:06:53. > :06:57.asset sales are a normal part of the business cycle. But he has admitted
:06:58. > :07:02.to losing sleep over the city's future. One major worry is a planned
:07:03. > :07:07.civil disobedience movements organised by pro`democracy activists
:07:08. > :07:16.who want genuine democratic reforms. It will be called Occupy Central. He
:07:17. > :07:18.believes the sit in will hurt Hong Kong. So far, stock`market investors
:07:19. > :07:24.have shown little concern over Occupy Central. But they will be
:07:25. > :07:27.closely watching the results briefing for any clues into how the
:07:28. > :07:37.company plans to spend the money raised from the asset sales.
:07:38. > :07:44.One of the world's best`known piano makers has made huge inroads into
:07:45. > :07:59.China over the past decade. Now we go to our correspondent.
:08:00. > :08:02.#Moonlight Sonata. Like many parents in Asia, mine pushed me to play the
:08:03. > :08:09.piano. But unlike many parents now, mine could not afford to get me one
:08:10. > :08:14.of these. One of these can set you back about $250,000. Asia makes up
:08:15. > :08:24.nearly half the global sales, and growth is expected at 20% this year
:08:25. > :08:27.alone. Driven by China. With me now is the president of Steinway
:08:28. > :08:32.Asia`Pacific. What is behind this growth? Is it down to the pushy
:08:33. > :08:35.parents? I would not say pushy parents, but parents who take care
:08:36. > :08:47.of the education of their children when it comes to piano playing. It
:08:48. > :08:51.is that approach to learning that saw this young man's parents get him
:08:52. > :09:04.a Steinway earlier this year. He is just 11 years old. He has been
:09:05. > :09:07.playing for four years. In a trend, unique to this region, nearly half
:09:08. > :09:10.of the sales in many Asian countries are down to parents buying them for
:09:11. > :09:14.their young children. Ten years ago, Steinway hardly sold any pianos in
:09:15. > :09:17.China. Now it has become popular to play piano. You have been credited
:09:18. > :09:23.with turning around the fortunes of Steinway. How did you manage to do
:09:24. > :09:33.that? When I came to China, it did not look so inviting for a product
:09:34. > :09:39.like ours. You could easily buy ten houses for the price of a Steinway.
:09:40. > :09:42.Within the past ten years, we have built our base in Shanghai. We also
:09:43. > :09:48.develop the market by talking very closely to the education people, the
:09:49. > :09:52.institutions. The conservators. How do you build a business model around
:09:53. > :09:55.a product that does not need replacing? We mostly have one time
:09:56. > :10:02.buyers. You cannot keep telling them that you need a new one. It is just
:10:03. > :10:11.developing. It is growing with the player. People talk about it. They
:10:12. > :10:16.are telling their friends. This is one part of the success. The second
:10:17. > :10:25.part is we are a global company. There are always markets we can
:10:26. > :10:41.develop. Great talent. A star in the making. Thank you for investing your
:10:42. > :10:45.time with us. Goodbye for now. You are watching BBC News. The top
:10:46. > :10:48.stories this hour. Both the United States and the United Nations have
:10:49. > :10:50.condemned an attack on a UN school in Gaza that was sheltering
:10:51. > :10:53.Palestinians. At least sixteen people were killed.
:10:54. > :10:55.The Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to spread and medical
:10:56. > :11:04.charities warn it's likely to last until the end of the year.
:11:05. > :11:05.Firefighters have been tackling a large fire which has destroyed