:00:00. > :00:18.the United Kingdom. Now on BBC News, all the latest
:00:19. > :00:24.business news live from Singapore. Alibaba is set for the biggest US
:00:25. > :00:27.shares sale in US history, with the hopes of raising $24 billion from
:00:28. > :00:36.its stock. A crackdown on corruption in China has hit sales ahead of the
:00:37. > :00:40.midautumn Festival. Thank you for joining us for this
:00:41. > :00:47.edition of Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon.
:00:48. > :00:50.We have talked about this massive stock offering for months and now it
:00:51. > :00:53.has finally happened. China's e`commerce giant Alibaba is taking
:00:54. > :00:58.its shares on the road to attract investors in a bid to raise $24
:00:59. > :01:05.billion. That is on Monday. It is expected to offer 320 million in
:01:06. > :01:11.shares, priced between 60 and 66 US dollars. How will the company fair?
:01:12. > :01:15.I spoke earlier with an economist from the graduate School in Beijing,
:01:16. > :01:21.where the CEO of Alibaba studied. The situation is different in China
:01:22. > :01:24.from the US. What they have done successfully in China might not be
:01:25. > :01:35.transferred easily into the US. Why not? I think Chinese people, for
:01:36. > :01:38.example, want something cheap, so that is the foundation. You have
:01:39. > :01:41.stuff that might not be real, might not be authentic, but sells for a
:01:42. > :01:52.cheap price, so that business model I don't think would fly in the US.
:01:53. > :01:55.Do you think the success of Jack Moss' leadership and the
:01:56. > :02:10.entrepreneurial acumen in China will be successful in a US business? It
:02:11. > :02:12.might not be possible. But that doesn't matter because the value of
:02:13. > :02:17.Alibaba is based on their performance and their status in
:02:18. > :02:26.China. Only for that part, it is worth the IPO valuation that is
:02:27. > :02:31.proposed. In news this hour, China posted its
:02:32. > :02:35.numbers for the month of August, with a 9.4% rise on the year. It
:02:36. > :02:41.follows a record surplus in July after the government made similar
:02:42. > :02:47.initiative is to stop the economy from slowing down. There has been a
:02:48. > :02:52.rebound in exports. The Japanese online retail giant Rakuten, is in
:02:53. > :02:54.talks to buy eBay. If the sales close, it will be the company's
:02:55. > :03:01.fifth major overseas investment in the last year. The acquisition price
:03:02. > :03:15.for the majority stake is said to be about $950 million.
:03:16. > :03:17.Revised data from Japan shows the economy shrank by 7.1% in the three
:03:18. > :03:23.months to are concerns about the impact of
:03:24. > :03:25.sales tax hike in April. The revised contraction was the biggest since
:03:26. > :03:29.early 2009 when the global financial crisis hit Japan's exports and
:03:30. > :03:37.output. It is six months since Malaysia
:03:38. > :03:40.Airlines flight 370 disappeared. In addition to being a human tragedy,
:03:41. > :03:42.it has had a major impact on Malaysia's tourism industry. Until
:03:43. > :03:45.this year, the tourism sector experienced significant and
:03:46. > :03:48.sustained growth. Last year, the nation had 25 million visitors who
:03:49. > :04:03.collectively brought in about $25 billion. This year hasn't been so
:04:04. > :04:05.good. Our correspondent reports. Here in Kuala Lumpur International
:04:06. > :04:08.airport the number of Chinese tourists walking through this
:04:09. > :04:11.arrival door behind me has dropped significantly in the past few
:04:12. > :04:13.months. That is because they have shunned Malaysia following the
:04:14. > :04:16.mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 in March. More than half the
:04:17. > :04:22.passengers on board the flight were from the mainland. As the search
:04:23. > :04:33.went on, and no plane was found, and no answers were given, the shock and
:04:34. > :04:35.grief turned to anger. Both travel operators and even celebrities
:04:36. > :04:38.callED for a boycott of Malaysia, while there were even street
:04:39. > :04:46.protests in Beijing. Visitor numbers to Malaysia plummeted. In the first
:04:47. > :04:49.five monthS of this year, Chinese arrivals to Malaysia fell by 7%. For
:04:50. > :04:52.Malaysia Airlines, they saw bookings by Chinese tourists plummet by 60%
:04:53. > :05:06.in the weeks following the plane's disappearance. Making matters worse,
:05:07. > :05:10.A spate of kidnappings of Chinese nationals on the east coast of
:05:11. > :05:12.Malaysia in an area famous for the resorts. Airlines are offering hefty
:05:13. > :05:15.discounts to attract Chinese tourists back to Malaysia but with
:05:16. > :05:17.MH370 still missing, it will be a big challenge.
:05:18. > :05:24.Earlier, I asked a spokesman from Endau Analytics when we can expect
:05:25. > :05:27.this drop in tourism to turn around. People understand this was a very
:05:28. > :05:37.unique experience with MH370 and MH17. They understand Malaysia
:05:38. > :05:40.offers value for money. We have seen more people from China, India,
:05:41. > :05:51.elsewhere in Asia, indeed from Europe, coming here in numbers
:05:52. > :05:55.already. If you do business in Asia, you will
:05:56. > :05:58.probably be familiar with the mooncake. It is a popular gift and
:05:59. > :06:07.symbol of building trust and friendship and goes on sale once a
:06:08. > :06:10.year. That is for today's mid Autumn Festival. The multi`million dollar
:06:11. > :06:12.industry takes a hit this year because China has banned public
:06:13. > :06:18.money being spent on them. Our correspondent went to find out what
:06:19. > :06:21.the fuss is all about. Traditionally, mooncakes are sold in
:06:22. > :06:24.the weeks leading up to the mid Autumn Festival as a holiday treat.
:06:25. > :06:28.But they have also become an important part in the way business
:06:29. > :06:30.is done in many countries in Asia. Look at this department store in
:06:31. > :06:35.Singapore. The entire floor is devoted to them and they are selling
:06:36. > :06:45.like hotcakes. We have about 3`10% in growth on today's sales for this
:06:46. > :06:51.year. It has been fantastic. There are nearly 60 brands on sale. Even
:06:52. > :06:57.gold dusted mooncakes, which have become difficult to find in the
:06:58. > :06:59.world's biggest market, China. For years, Chinese factories like this
:07:00. > :07:09.one have worked overtime to meet the demand for the pastry. Demand is
:07:10. > :07:13.rising. The Chinese president's crackdown on corruption has even
:07:14. > :07:16.taken aim at the humble mooncake. That's because the luxury varieties
:07:17. > :07:19.can represent a blurring of the line between a gift and a bribe. As a
:07:20. > :07:24.result, sales by Chinese manufacturers have been slashed in
:07:25. > :07:27.half from last year 's levels. That's not stopping producers like
:07:28. > :07:39.this woman, whose bakery in Singapore has only been making
:07:40. > :07:42.mooncakes for two years. We are looking to expand into south`east
:07:43. > :07:46.Asia despite the fact that in China, it is falling in sales, we
:07:47. > :07:49.are open to going there. Until then, she has no shortage of buyers here.
:07:50. > :07:59.With many of these brands selling out well ahead of today's Mid Autumn
:08:00. > :08:05.Festival. Innovation isn't a word people
:08:06. > :08:07.usually use to describe China. Often it is associated with cheap
:08:08. > :08:16.knockoffs and back breaking sweatshops. One entrepreneur is
:08:17. > :08:19.trying to change that perception. In the latest instalment of our My
:08:20. > :08:22.Business Asia series, we speak with the woman about her firm, a Beijing
:08:23. > :08:23.`based educational company with a different approach to teaching young
:08:24. > :08:39.people. I am Joanna. I am from Beijing
:08:40. > :08:42.Makers Space. I founded a cutting`edge technology company for
:08:43. > :08:44.kids one year ago, it is called Creatica. We mainly provide
:08:45. > :08:47.technology, such as 3D printing, laser cutting, soft circuits, coding
:08:48. > :08:53.for web. At Creatica, we aren't only a content supplier. We design a
:08:54. > :09:07.curriculum to help mentors deliver thinking, passion and ideas to kids.
:09:08. > :09:10.In China, because there are people who are motivated but don't have the
:09:11. > :09:13.platform, we play a very important role in working as a bridge between
:09:14. > :09:16.makers, societies, community and between kids. At this market in
:09:17. > :09:30.China, it is very big. However, in the beginning, I wasn't very
:09:31. > :09:32.confident. We don't have a big budget for the commercial
:09:33. > :09:36.advertisements, so we basically are based on word of mouth. In China, it
:09:37. > :09:45.is common for business to copy each other. So, we have to constantly
:09:46. > :09:48.make a new curriculum and keep innovating. At the very beginning,
:09:49. > :09:54.the first people who joined us were privileged families in China. Now,
:09:55. > :10:04.we are very popular with parents who even fly from other cities to come
:10:05. > :10:07.here. They were super excited because they had never seen sparkles
:10:08. > :10:15.in their kid's eyes and they are excited that China has something
:10:16. > :10:18.like this. Let's have a look at the markets and
:10:19. > :10:21.Asian shares are off to a cautious start on Monday as investors
:10:22. > :10:29.digestive Wall Street gains and the weaker than expected jobs report.
:10:30. > :10:33.You have Japan and Hong Kong in positive territory only slightly,
:10:34. > :10:36.but Australia is down by 16.5. Thank you so much for investing your
:10:37. > :10:44.time with us. I'm Rico Hizon. Goodbye for now.
:10:45. > :10:53.You are watching BBC News. The top stories this hour. President
:10:54. > :10:56.Obama says he will shortly announce his plan to deal with the threat
:10:57. > :11:00.from Islamic State jihadists. Malaysia is marking six months since
:11:01. > :11:01.the disappearance of flight MH370 ` the biggest mystery in