:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore
:00:16. > :00:23.China's latest trade figures - how will the volatile markets react?
:00:24. > :00:27.Also waiting in on mines, oil is under $30 a barrel -- weighing. --
:00:28. > :00:31.mids. Hello, and welcome to
:00:32. > :00:45.Asia Business Report. We start with China's trade numbers
:00:46. > :00:49.to be released shortly. They are expected to show weakness in imports
:00:50. > :00:53.and exports. Officials are widely seen as trying to boost the
:00:54. > :00:58.country's trade performance, pushing down the value of the local
:00:59. > :01:01.currency, the yuan. With a slowing economy and so much market
:01:02. > :01:10.volatility, how will these figures be received? Let's cross to Hong
:01:11. > :01:15.Kong, with Andrew Sullivan. Thank you for being on Asia Business
:01:16. > :01:23.Report. What are you looking for in these numbers? Well, the key thing
:01:24. > :01:28.is signs of stabilisation, to see the declines are bottoming out, and
:01:29. > :01:31.that there is the potential for upside going forward. If you look at
:01:32. > :01:35.the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index over the last couple
:01:36. > :01:42.of months, it has been disappointing with weak demand the key factor. I
:01:43. > :01:46.think you are right. At the end of the day, China is an export driven
:01:47. > :01:51.nation. The policy of the Government is to move towards domestic
:01:52. > :01:54.consumption. It takes a long time for that to take place. In the
:01:55. > :01:58.meantime, they are very much an exporter. They are reacting to the
:01:59. > :02:06.global slowdown we've seen in Europe and the US. That will be a major
:02:07. > :02:12.factor for them. They import a lot of oil and commodities, which have
:02:13. > :02:15.seen them bottom out over the last 1.5 years - will this improve the
:02:16. > :02:23.import numbers and domestic consumption? Well, I think, you
:02:24. > :02:28.know, it has mentioned the devaluation of the yuan. This is a
:02:29. > :02:33.good time to devalue. Those imports, with a stronger yuan, they
:02:34. > :02:38.are cheaper, in devaluing them, however, they are slightly more
:02:39. > :02:43.expensive. They have come at a time when the imports have come down in
:02:44. > :02:47.price. Oil has come down from 110 to the $30 range, which means that they
:02:48. > :02:53.are not suddenly putting up the cost of the imports that they are
:02:54. > :02:55.bringing into the country. Devaluation has served them well.
:02:56. > :03:01.They are continuing to stop while a lot of these resources, because they
:03:02. > :03:04.will still need them going forward -- stockpile. They will have to
:03:05. > :03:10.build houses and roads and update infrastructure going forward. Thank
:03:11. > :03:17.you for your insight on the trade data to be released in 25 minutes.
:03:18. > :03:22.Continuing concerns about the Chinese slowing economy and the
:03:23. > :03:25.major supply glut, we have seen oil prices dip below $30 per barrel in
:03:26. > :03:33.New York for the first time in 12 years. So far we have seen prices
:03:34. > :03:37.lose 20% in value so far in 2016. Let's give you an update on how they
:03:38. > :03:45.are going in early Asian trade. Crude is at $30 per barrel. Brent
:03:46. > :03:53.crude is above $31. Well, this falling oil price has indeed been
:03:54. > :03:59.impacting profits, especially at British oil giant BP, which is
:04:00. > :04:05.cutting 4000 jobs worldwide. 600 of them will be from its North Sea
:04:06. > :04:09.operations. The Brazilian oil giant Petra Bass is scaling back
:04:10. > :04:16.investment plans by $32 billion. That is the third cut from the
:04:17. > :04:19.country in six months -- Petrobras. There will be more pain to come in
:04:20. > :04:27.the industry. It is concerning, to be honest. Not surprising. We've
:04:28. > :04:31.still got access supply over demand, which will still weigh over prices
:04:32. > :04:35.in the short-term. I don't think China is that big of an issue when
:04:36. > :04:45.it comes to oil. I think people have been making it out. Chinese oil
:04:46. > :04:52.demand is likely to eek out oil growth. The second element is the
:04:53. > :04:55.ongoing strength of the dollar. That will push the oil price down. These
:04:56. > :05:01.depressed prices have stressed the energy sector around the world, and
:05:02. > :05:06.the Chinese oil companies as well. How can this affect Asian consumers
:05:07. > :05:13.and countries subsidising oil prices? It is fantastic for
:05:14. > :05:17.countries subsidising oil prices. In Indonesia, that gives you the excuse
:05:18. > :05:19.to remove those subsidies, which will help government balance sheets.
:05:20. > :05:25.It is great for the driving consumer. It will be disinflationary
:05:26. > :05:29.for prices. For companies, it is a completely different matter. You
:05:30. > :05:35.mentioned with BT, further job cuts, all of these companies are
:05:36. > :05:38.trimming costs as much as possible to try to get through this
:05:39. > :05:44.extraordinarily low oil price period. A lot of these companies,
:05:45. > :05:50.which were marginal at $50, will really struggle Saab $30 for short
:05:51. > :05:56.with Morgan Stanley said it could go down to $30 -- sub. Many oil and
:05:57. > :06:03.resource companies are depending on China for their profitability. With
:06:04. > :06:10.the China trade dart out shortly do you expect numbers to show further
:06:11. > :06:15.declines? -- data. Yeah. I suspect we will see a larger decline in
:06:16. > :06:20.imports than exports. It is not great. It will lead to a bigger
:06:21. > :06:24.trade surplus for China. I don't think the impact on equity markets
:06:25. > :06:28.will be particularly difficult, because we won't see much, unless it
:06:29. > :06:33.is a huge surprise to the negative, or the positive, obviously. I don't
:06:34. > :06:39.think investors are really looking at trade dart up that heavily. I
:06:40. > :06:46.think oil is weighing on their mind more significantly -- data. It is
:06:47. > :06:51.not all doom and gloom in the mainland with Starbucks opening 500
:06:52. > :06:55.stores in China despite the cooling economic conditions. The largest
:06:56. > :07:00.coffee chain in the world says the plan will create 10,000 jobs in the
:07:01. > :07:07.country each year through 2019. It is the largest market for Starbucks
:07:08. > :07:11.outside the US. Raising money is easy and it is no different when it
:07:12. > :07:20.comes to attracting front for a good cause. Charities say that donors are
:07:21. > :07:22.increasingly wanting to know how the money is being spent.
:07:23. > :07:30.looks closer at the business of giving in Sydney. Australians donate
:07:31. > :07:36.millions of dollars to good causes each year. But the competition for
:07:37. > :07:41.those funds among thousands of charities and not-for-profit groups
:07:42. > :07:46.is intense. And invariably, the organisations that flourished are
:07:47. > :07:51.the ones with a sound business plan. Sydney community foundation is an
:07:52. > :08:00.independent foundation and we want to inspire the -- philanthropy. --
:08:01. > :08:05.Sydney Community Foundation. That particularly supports women and
:08:06. > :08:10.girls to thrive and be the best they can. The foundation has set up a
:08:11. > :08:13.community cafe that gives women the chance to run a sustainable
:08:14. > :08:18.business. The not-for-profit sector is a big sector in Australia. You
:08:19. > :08:22.definitely need very good corporate governance. We have a board of
:08:23. > :08:29.trustees with a particular mix of skills. You need to be very
:08:30. > :08:35.transparent and well-run. Stuart House in Sydney is respite care at
:08:36. > :08:40.the seaside for children. From disadvantaged families in the state
:08:41. > :08:44.of New South Wales. The charity's budget comes from donations from
:08:45. > :08:49.teachers, as well as other fundraising and grants. Around $4
:08:50. > :08:54.million per year in operating expenses are needed to make sure
:08:55. > :08:59.that we can take care of over 1800 children each year. We will be
:09:00. > :09:04.addressing more mental health issues in children associated with
:09:05. > :09:10.traumatic backgrounds. And to do that, I definitely need a lot more
:09:11. > :09:15.money. To do that, this business has to be sustainable, so we have to go
:09:16. > :09:20.out and find corporate donors that allow us a 10-20 year horizon in
:09:21. > :09:25.terms of the amount of money that they can provide the organisation.
:09:26. > :09:30.We compete with every other worthy charity in New South Wales, it
:09:31. > :09:36.indeed in Australia. -- indeed. And it is tough. There are more than
:09:37. > :09:39.54,000 registered charities in Australia, supervised by a
:09:40. > :09:42.government appointed regulator. That job is to see that organisations are
:09:43. > :09:51.run in a businesslike way. That is so that donations reach those that
:09:52. > :09:58.need them the most. And, before we go, a look at the Asia-Pacific
:09:59. > :10:02.market. A positive mood so far, with Japan, Hong Kong and Australia in
:10:03. > :10:11.positive territory, and the Chinese markets are up half a percent, all
:10:12. > :10:18.before the release of the trade data to come out in 20 minutes. And, of
:10:19. > :10:25.course, on Wall Street, both the Dow and the NASDAQ were positive. Thank
:10:26. > :10:27.you so much for in investing your time with us. I am Rico