:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:16. > :00:22.China's Manufacturing activity shrinks again. Does Beijing need to
:00:23. > :00:27.add more stimulus to its economy? And South Korea's answer to silicon
:00:28. > :00:28.valley looking to high-tech industries to generate more economic
:00:29. > :00:43.growth. Welcome to Asia Business Report.
:00:44. > :00:49.Activity in China's Manufacturing sector shrank in February putting
:00:50. > :00:53.more pressure on makers to provide additional stimulus for the cooling
:00:54. > :00:57.economy. The official purchasing manager's index stood at 49, down
:00:58. > :01:02.slightly from the previous month, and below it are 50 point mark that
:01:03. > :01:07.separates growth from contraction. The figures come hot on the heels of
:01:08. > :01:11.Monday's move by the central bank to add more stimulus to China's slowing
:01:12. > :01:15.economy by cutting the amount of cash lenders must hold in reserve.
:01:16. > :01:24.It is the first such reduction since October. I spoke to Tony Nash. It is
:01:25. > :01:28.about $105 billion worth of fans that will be out in the Chinese
:01:29. > :01:34.economy as of today -- funds. The reserve ratio requirement is about
:01:35. > :01:42.70%, which means banks need to keep that much of their lending in their
:01:43. > :01:51.accounts. On their books. That is very high, so this rate cut,
:01:52. > :01:57.although it weakens the Chinese currency, the central bank has quite
:01:58. > :02:01.a lot of room to continue these rate cuts if they want. That is
:02:02. > :02:07.interesting you mentioned the weakening of the yuan. It comes just
:02:08. > :02:12.after the weekend, where we heard China reassure its 220 partners that
:02:13. > :02:18.they would stabilise the currency -- T20. This will bring the currency
:02:19. > :02:26.down. What is this say about China's policy measures? I think the
:02:27. > :02:30.G20 statement, from a Chinese perspective, they probably see that
:02:31. > :02:35.as for other people. The central bank has not been as activist as the
:02:36. > :02:40.bank of Japan, the ECB, the US Federal Reserve, negative interest
:02:41. > :02:45.rates and these other things. I think the central bank sees they
:02:46. > :02:52.have other policies they can use that still relatively restrained. If
:02:53. > :02:59.you look at the Chinese you one, it is relatively appreciated,
:03:00. > :03:03.relatively highly valued compared to other currencies -- yuan. It is 1%
:03:04. > :03:15.from hysterical highs on average basis. There is a lot of room. Tony
:03:16. > :03:17.Nash speaking earlier. A raft of new economic numbers out of Japan this
:03:18. > :03:23.morning as well. Households Benning fell 31% in January from a year
:03:24. > :03:29.earlier, but the unemployment rate also fell to a three-month low --
:03:30. > :03:36.household spending fell 31%. Japanese companies increased
:03:37. > :03:43.spending on factories and equipment -- 3.1%. In a decision they could be
:03:44. > :03:49.seen as a blow for the US government's attempt to force Apple
:03:50. > :03:51.to break into an iPhone used in the San Bernardino attacks, the court
:03:52. > :03:56.has ruled against the government in a similar case. The US drug
:03:57. > :04:01.enforcement agency and the FBI went to court to compel Apple to help
:04:02. > :04:07.break into an iPhone cover skated from a suspected drug trafficker.
:04:08. > :04:11.Argentina's new government has ended a 15 year battle with creditors led
:04:12. > :04:15.by a US billionaire. The dispute's mediator announced a deal was struck
:04:16. > :04:20.in one saris to settle all claims with a payment of 4.6 5 billion
:04:21. > :04:24.dollars. It has been welcomed by creditors and makes good on a
:04:25. > :04:33.promise by the President to reverse his predecessor. -- $4.65 billion.
:04:34. > :04:38.Exports fell in February, but it still came in better-than-expected.
:04:39. > :04:42.Exports were down 12.2% from a year earlier while imports slumped more
:04:43. > :04:46.than 14%. Exports have been on a steady decline since the beginning
:04:47. > :04:54.of 2015 because of weak overseas demand. How do you build a high-tech
:04:55. > :04:58.industry? In South Korea, you poor billions of dollars into it. That is
:04:59. > :05:13.innate need to generate new businesses. -- that is due to a bid.
:05:14. > :05:14.The idea is to offer help to young entrepreneurs in something like him
:05:15. > :05:25.to silicon valley. It certainly looks the part. Funky
:05:26. > :05:31.young people in trainers writing stuff on walls. Plus more
:05:32. > :05:36.traditional laboratories. And financial and legal advice. This is
:05:37. > :05:41.the South Korean government's attempt at generating its own
:05:42. > :05:48.silicon valley. This centre is part of the initiative by the ministry of
:05:49. > :05:52.science. Some investors from abroad said they have never seen anything
:05:53. > :06:00.involved with the government so successful. They were releasing
:06:01. > :06:06.call. The involvement of the government is not such a bad idea --
:06:07. > :06:12.they were really cynical. This man had an idea. Asked to help send to
:06:13. > :06:17.sleep. It senses your sleep patterns and then transmits back to the face
:06:18. > :06:24.the right soothing low-level sound. He is using the centre to get the
:06:25. > :06:28.idea to market. But he feels he is a typical setting up his own company.
:06:29. > :06:36.Koreans prefer to work for bigger employers. People need to think and
:06:37. > :06:39.inspire, to do something by themselves, not just try to go to
:06:40. > :06:46.big companies. We were like that before. South Korea created a heavy
:06:47. > :06:50.industrial economy, virtually at the government's direction. The
:06:51. > :06:54.government now wants a more creative economy, as heavy industry comes
:06:55. > :07:02.under pressure from lower cost China and Vietnam. But a centre to foster
:07:03. > :07:14.creativity went change and economy overnight. -- warrant. -- won't.
:07:15. > :07:19.Ever been stuck at the office with a cold sandwich wishing for better?
:07:20. > :07:23.Is? Is start-up is expanding globally because of demand for
:07:24. > :07:28.premium food delivery. The co-founder spoke about the
:07:29. > :07:32.company's plans for Asia, where it has launched in four cities. When we
:07:33. > :07:38.look for markets we look for ablation density, which is in
:07:39. > :07:43.abundance in Asia, a level of affluence, which is there in those
:07:44. > :07:49.cities, and people in Asia care a lot about food, so restaurants are
:07:50. > :07:55.incredible in terms of basic street food to Michelin starred restaurants
:07:56. > :08:02.-- population density. What led you to move to starting a food start-up?
:08:03. > :08:06.It is funny you asked that. I discovered food delivery at my first
:08:07. > :08:12.job. We worked 100 hours a week. That was the fun part of the day was
:08:13. > :08:18.eating. When I moved from New York to London in 2004, I could not find
:08:19. > :08:22.anything decent to eat on delivery, and that is when I first thought of
:08:23. > :08:29.the idea. One thing led to another. After graduating from business,
:08:30. > :08:36.teamed up with co-founder. How does your business stack up against
:08:37. > :08:40.competition such as another fast-growing delivery service in
:08:41. > :08:44.Asia? What we really care about? We care about working with the best
:08:45. > :08:48.restaurants getting fit you in half-an-hour, and as far as I know,
:08:49. > :08:56.we are the only noble way of doing this on this gal -- food to you.
:08:57. > :09:04.What are some of the challenges you face was lack if you look at food
:09:05. > :09:09.delivery, the supply of restaurants is typically street level. In
:09:10. > :09:16.Singapore, a lot of these places are in malls. It is much hillier in Hong
:09:17. > :09:24.Kong in some places we're used to. We have a team of engineers and
:09:25. > :09:29.scientists working on our algorithm so it each delivery can be more
:09:30. > :09:35.efficient and being specific about the geographic complexities of each
:09:36. > :09:39.market. You have raised names of dollars. That is a lot. How did you
:09:40. > :09:44.go about doing this? Has been a challenge getting more money so far?
:09:45. > :09:49.We have grown over 25% since inception. If you keep doing that
:09:50. > :09:54.over two years, investors will take notice. That was one of the founders
:09:55. > :10:00.of Deliveroo. Let's look at the markets. We have seen that the Hang
:10:01. > :10:06.Seng is slightly higher and ordinary is in Australia gaining. But
:10:07. > :10:14.Japan's Nikkei fairly flat at the moment. A stronger yen eating into
:10:15. > :10:18.exporters. What is interesting is it is taking its cues from China where
:10:19. > :10:23.we saw that using move on Monday. Cutting the bank's reserve ratios.
:10:24. > :10:29.We are also seeing malefactor in numbers slightly weaker. --
:10:30. > :10:31.manufacturing. That is it for this edition of Asia Business Report.
:10:32. > :10:39.Thank you for watching. Macedonian police use stun grenades
:10:40. > :10:45.to drive back the migrants and refugees trying to make
:10:46. > :10:50.their way to northern Europe. Malaysia's former Prime Minister
:10:51. > :10:53.quits his country's ruling party,