:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:19.China rejects suggestions of a hard landing NSAIDs and economic growth
:00:20. > :00:47.target of 6.5% to 7%. And setting. Welcome to Asia Business Report. The
:00:48. > :00:49.head of China's National development commission has brushed aside
:00:50. > :00:54.suggestions that a hard landing for the China's economy is predicted,
:00:55. > :00:58.saying it is doomed to fail. His comments followed the national
:00:59. > :01:04.people's Congress decision to downgrade China's growth target to
:01:05. > :01:14.6.5 -7%. Will the move provide any reassurance? The message is partly
:01:15. > :01:19.due to the wrong expectations of the world. China has said for the last
:01:20. > :01:24.ten years it wants to slow its growth rate. A lot of people would
:01:25. > :01:28.say they have actually been successful in achieving a slower
:01:29. > :01:34.growth rate, but of course nobody is happy about the words flow. -- would
:01:35. > :01:39.slow. A lot of world economy is one China to at least maintain two digit
:01:40. > :01:46.growth. That is now clearly impossible. 6.5% is the current
:01:47. > :01:53.expectation given that the five-year plan wants to achieve a doubling of
:01:54. > :01:58.incomes and some other indicators by 2020. You mentioned the five-year
:01:59. > :02:03.plan. What is China need to do to move its economy forward when you
:02:04. > :02:09.take into account state owned enterprises and so-called zombie
:02:10. > :02:16.companies? To move forward should not mean to move numbers up. The
:02:17. > :02:20.impetus is on quality. If we look through the plan, and there is now a
:02:21. > :02:27.draft circulating among the media, we expected to be similar to what is
:02:28. > :02:34.past, it shows the word quality in place of some previous numerical
:02:35. > :02:41.values. So you want to see leaner and meaner state enterprises going
:02:42. > :02:47.into global markets. We will still see China in some of the big
:02:48. > :02:52.industrial fields. It cannot fold up industry in a hurry because of the
:02:53. > :02:57.employment indications, but we expect to see a concentration on key
:02:58. > :03:05.industries like communications, IT. You also say this restructuring is
:03:06. > :03:09.good news for the Chinese, but bad news for the rest of the world. What
:03:10. > :03:14.impact will it have on the rest of the world? We have already seen
:03:15. > :03:19.economies like results starting to slow and Australia's minors being
:03:20. > :03:26.impacted by the China slowdown. The economy is often on a lag. Those
:03:27. > :03:30.impacts in Brazil, well, Brazil could have been adapting to the
:03:31. > :03:33.changes five or ten years ago. Australia would have been adapting
:03:34. > :03:43.five or ten use ago. But a lot of people in the business world did not
:03:44. > :03:47.want to know -- years ago. That was David Kelly speaking earlier. Trade
:03:48. > :03:52.in Hong Kong listed shares of Chinese telecommunications have been
:03:53. > :03:57.suspended. But his following news that the company faces US export
:03:58. > :04:01.restrictions and the US commerce Department is reportedly set to
:04:02. > :04:09.place export restrictions on Z TE for alleged violations. The Reuters
:04:10. > :04:12.news agency say the restrictions will apply for an export licence
:04:13. > :04:17.before shipping any American-made equipment or parts to the company.
:04:18. > :04:22.Myanmar has granted operating licences to form or Asian banks,
:04:23. > :04:27.bringing to 13 the number of foreign banks allowed to open for business
:04:28. > :04:30.in the country. They will be given 12 months to demonstrate they can
:04:31. > :04:35.fulfil their business plans before their licences are made permanent.
:04:36. > :04:43.The MR's tanking system was closed to the outside world for decades --
:04:44. > :04:49.side. Sharp shares are about 4% higher, defying the slump in the
:04:50. > :04:56.Nikkei. That is in the continuing expectation about a takeover bid
:04:57. > :05:01.from another company. It would accept any $6 billion offer. Then
:05:02. > :05:07.they backed down saying it received new information about the financial
:05:08. > :05:12.status of Sharp. But shares rose as they are doing today on rumours that
:05:13. > :05:15.the deal was by contract. The chief Taiwan correspondent for the Nikkei
:05:16. > :05:26.Asian review has been following the story. From what we know right now,
:05:27. > :05:32.the two sides are expected to sign an agreement by Wednesday at the
:05:33. > :05:36.earliest. But still, at this moment, we don't know exactly when or which
:05:37. > :05:43.day they will sign this agreement. But the two sides are still eager,
:05:44. > :05:50.and the chairman is interested in getting Sharp's technology in order
:05:51. > :05:56.to secure more orders from Apple. As you say, the chairman is keen on
:05:57. > :06:00.train to get this technology from Sharp but is taking on a big risk.
:06:01. > :06:11.Warrant buying it mean taking on its huge debt burden? -- won't buying
:06:12. > :06:17.it? Looking at the financial performances and the report, it is
:06:18. > :06:26.possible comeback Sharp will pay out 350 billion yen in liabilities, but
:06:27. > :06:31.this hurdle in the talks should not be that high, and the contingent
:06:32. > :06:40.liabilities should not become an issue. At the same time, the company
:06:41. > :06:47.is known for its efficiency. Especially ability to help Sharp. Do
:06:48. > :06:54.you think shareholders think this is a good deal? Investors have not been
:06:55. > :06:59.very happy about this acquisition deal because they think this could
:07:00. > :07:06.put pressure on their cash position, and their cash dividend
:07:07. > :07:12.and future investments. In most developed economies, people on low
:07:13. > :07:15.incomes are often in eligible for financial support from the
:07:16. > :07:20.government whether it is direct benefits or subsidised prices. That
:07:21. > :07:24.requires reliable information about their income. In India, the
:07:25. > :07:32.government wants to take away fuel subsidies from those authorities
:07:33. > :07:37.that can afford to pay full price, but it is not that simple.
:07:38. > :07:41.The cylinders containing gas that millions of Indian households use
:07:42. > :07:47.for cooking. A canister in Mumbai costs around $10. And last year,
:07:48. > :07:52.this woman would receive about $3 back from the government every time
:07:53. > :07:56.she bought a cylinder. That money was a subsidy, making the gas
:07:57. > :08:03.cheaper. Now the rules have changed. Any household where tax reports show
:08:04. > :08:08.someone and about $15,000 a year or more must now pay full market price.
:08:09. > :08:12.Sofa this woman, who falls in that income bracket, the subsidy has been
:08:13. > :08:19.withdrawn and she's not happy -- so for this woman. Price of living
:08:20. > :08:24.Mumbai is very high. The difficulties to meet our daily needs
:08:25. > :08:29.a different to other areas in India. This policy that has been made in
:08:30. > :08:35.the form for all will be a little bit difficult for us. Up to $44
:08:36. > :08:39.million a year could be saved by the scheme, and the government says the
:08:40. > :08:47.money will be used to help poor households by cooking gas instead of
:08:48. > :08:55.kerosene, whole, would and cow dung. -- oil, wood. When you talk about
:08:56. > :08:59.small nuclear families, they consume seven cylinders a year, which does
:09:00. > :09:04.not make any difference. In any case, we're able to support people
:09:05. > :09:08.on lower incomes. It is a way of doing something kind of like
:09:09. > :09:13.charity. The past year or so, the government has run a campaign called
:09:14. > :09:19.give it up, asking people to volunteer to give up their cooking
:09:20. > :09:22.subsidy. But unsurprisingly, few willingly came forward, and that is
:09:23. > :09:27.why the state is trying to link subsidies more closely to income.
:09:28. > :09:31.The problem is in terms of identification. That is a major
:09:32. > :09:35.challenge the government has because most of the Times when you are
:09:36. > :09:40.declaring your income it is a self declaration. We don't have too many
:09:41. > :09:44.taxpayers in the country, so mostly it will be a case of us voluntarily
:09:45. > :09:49.saying I am poor or rich. I think that will be the major issue when
:09:50. > :09:54.trying to rationalised subsidies based on income. It is near
:09:55. > :10:00.impossible to work out who should get the benefit, and that means the
:10:01. > :10:07.subsidies remain a tricky issue to grapple with. Let's take a look at
:10:08. > :10:12.the markets before we go. If we take a look at the Hong Kong Hang Seng,
:10:13. > :10:17.it has opened higher alongside its counterparts in China. Those markets
:10:18. > :10:21.are also higher despite the downgrade in the growth forecast we
:10:22. > :10:25.were telling you about at the start of the programme. Australia is well
:10:26. > :10:28.gaining due to a rally in commodities and oil prices, however
:10:29. > :10:33.the Nikkei continues like to to profit-taking. That is it for this
:10:34. > :10:34.edition of Asia Business Report. Thank you for