:00:00. > :00:00.Suhaib Majeed was convicted of conspiracy to murder and
:00:00. > :00:00.Tarik Hassane admitted the same charges.
:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore
:00:16. > :00:23.China's Premier is about to address business leaders as the IMF warns of
:00:24. > :00:27.a ripple effect from the slowing economy. Clearly the economy is
:00:28. > :00:30.slowing down, and what impact that will have on China's trading
:00:31. > :00:35.partners will be significant. The spillover is quite a bit. The Thai
:00:36. > :00:45.military's government promises to crack down on corruption. But is
:00:46. > :00:52.everyone marching in lockstep? Welcome to Asia Business Report. The
:00:53. > :00:56.Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, is about to give a keynote address at a
:00:57. > :01:01.gathering of top business leaders in China. We can now take you there
:01:02. > :01:06.live, show you these live pictures from inside the conference centre,
:01:07. > :01:14.where he is expected to speak in just a few minutes. How
:01:15. > :01:22.correspondent is at the forum, and she can join us from there now. What
:01:23. > :01:28.can we expect the Premier to say? In the next couple of minutes we are
:01:29. > :01:30.expecting Premier Li Keqiang to address this gathering of
:01:31. > :01:35.high-profile business leaders from across the mainland and across the
:01:36. > :01:41.region. Bosses from as far away as Australia and India, they have all
:01:42. > :01:45.gathered here at this annual event. They have come to listen to what he
:01:46. > :01:49.has to say. It is very likely he will repeat the sort of things we
:01:50. > :01:52.have heard before. Just a couple of weeks ago at the National People's
:01:53. > :01:56.Congress, when he talked about the fact that China may be going through
:01:57. > :02:05.this tricky transition from a manufacturing led economy, that --
:02:06. > :02:11.to one that is still in good shape, and can still grow anywhere between
:02:12. > :02:19.the rage of 6.5% to 7% this year. Others are not so optimistic. I
:02:20. > :02:22.spoke of the deputy director of the IMF, asking how much of an impact
:02:23. > :02:28.China's slowdown is having on regional economies. Clearly, when
:02:29. > :02:39.China slows down it will impact the trading partners. If China drops 1%
:02:40. > :02:45.of GDP for investments, that will have an effect of 0.4% on Malaysia,
:02:46. > :02:48.Indonesia, even Chile. How do you think China is managing this
:02:49. > :02:52.transition from a manufacturing economy to one that is now evolving
:02:53. > :02:59.into high-tech manufacturing and innovation? It is not easy. For
:03:00. > :03:05.example, cutting the capacity, a few million people will lose their jobs.
:03:06. > :03:08.China still creates nearly 13 million jobs every year, which is a
:03:09. > :03:16.huge number, but it is not the same thing. I think putting in a social
:03:17. > :03:22.safety net to deal with that is part of the initiative. Furthermore, you
:03:23. > :03:30.are not only cutting capacity, you are moving to the more
:03:31. > :03:36.high-efficiency supply chains. For that is also a big challenge as
:03:37. > :03:41.well. As you can see, the conference call is really filling up this
:03:42. > :03:46.morning. It has been the culmination of the last couple of days where
:03:47. > :03:49.there have been seminars taking place, not just about China's
:03:50. > :03:54.economic future and challenges, but also about what the region as a
:03:55. > :03:59.whole faces, with workshops on global economic governance as well
:04:00. > :04:04.as the issue of currency was an volatility, which we have seen with
:04:05. > :04:07.a Chinese yuan. This is very much an opportunity for China to present its
:04:08. > :04:11.face to the world. It is an annual gathering, which was started by
:04:12. > :04:15.China to rival the kind of forums we have seen like the world economic
:04:16. > :04:20.Forum in Davos, and those kinds of events. This year it is taking place
:04:21. > :04:25.against this backdrop of slower economic growth in China, and the
:04:26. > :04:28.prospect of massive job losses. It is likely that Premier Li Keqiang
:04:29. > :04:33.will also address what has been called a crisis of confidence, if
:04:34. > :04:38.you will. Whether Chinese policymakers are actually able to
:04:39. > :04:41.handle this transition... They have been seen as masters of the universe
:04:42. > :04:46.in the past being able to handle this issue, and it is quite
:04:47. > :04:53.critical. As you can see, the Premier has just entered the
:04:54. > :04:59.conference hall. We are expecting him to speak any moment now. He is
:05:00. > :05:02.walking up through the delegates, and is expected to talk in the next
:05:03. > :05:07.couple of minutes. We are expecting him to address the issue of China's
:05:08. > :05:12.slowdown, as well as any of the job losses that may take place in the
:05:13. > :05:18.state-owned enterprises sector. He hasn't quite started yet, so I
:05:19. > :05:22.will ask a quick question. What have business leaders been telling you
:05:23. > :05:31.about these ongoing concerns about the world's second largest economy
:05:32. > :05:34.slowing down? Many people are divided about whether China is
:05:35. > :05:39.actually going to face a hard landing or not. The real issue has
:05:40. > :05:44.been whether policymakers are able to manage this transition, and of
:05:45. > :05:49.course a lot of questions are being raised about whether the actual
:05:50. > :05:53.growth targets can be achieved, because 6.5% -7%, which is the range
:05:54. > :05:59.China has set for itself this year, is a pretty optimistic and ambitious
:06:00. > :06:02.target. There are also concerns being raised about whether
:06:03. > :06:05.much-needed reforms that the IMF has talked about that China needs to
:06:06. > :06:12.implement will be sacrificed its growth needs to be at that pace. We
:06:13. > :06:16.are still waiting for him to start speaking, but we hope to dip in live
:06:17. > :06:20.to hear what he says. We will let you go so you can go and listen to
:06:21. > :06:26.what he has to say. Thank you for joining us.
:06:27. > :06:30.Thailand's military government has at times justified taking power with
:06:31. > :06:37.claims that it is cracking down on corruption. But some groups have
:06:38. > :06:40.their doubt. Transparency International rates the risk of
:06:41. > :06:43.corruption as very high, saying they often pay too much for their
:06:44. > :06:51.weapons. Has there been progress and if so is it likely to last? The
:06:52. > :06:54.military says it is succeeding were elected governments have failed,
:06:55. > :06:57.that corruption is being tackled. But at least one organisation,
:06:58. > :07:02.backed by the biggest business groups in Thailand, agrees.
:07:03. > :07:06.TRANSLATION: It is clear from academic and other evidence that the
:07:07. > :07:10.status of corruption is the best it has been in Thailand for six years.
:07:11. > :07:17.The concrete measures by this government show that they can solve
:07:18. > :07:22.the corruption problem. Last year, the coup leader ordered the transfer
:07:23. > :07:27.of 175 government officials who were under suspicion. Business surveys
:07:28. > :07:31.suggest bribery levels have come down, and smaller battles, like
:07:32. > :07:36.cutting scams on Thailand's beaches, have also been won. But other
:07:37. > :07:42.generals winning or even fighting a larger war? I do not see anything
:07:43. > :07:49.that is long-term. They go after a lot of corruption cases, which gets
:07:50. > :07:57.a lot of popularity, but I think the most effective measures to tackle
:07:58. > :08:02.corruption is about information disclosure. It is about allowing the
:08:03. > :08:06.average person to know what is going on in the government. And that is a
:08:07. > :08:09.problem for the military. Its own spending is secretive. When
:08:10. > :08:13.protesters have raised questions about irregularities in military
:08:14. > :08:17.projects, they have been arrested. Then there is the political
:08:18. > :08:24.targeting of military investigations. Ousted PM Yingluck
:08:25. > :08:29.Shinawatra is one of the first to be charged over a failed rice scheme.
:08:30. > :08:34.Yet the minister responsible for the massive infrastructure project that
:08:35. > :08:40.was started under her administration say that charge is often unfair. At
:08:41. > :08:46.the beginning, not many copycat things, you know. You have to have a
:08:47. > :08:50.good prior estimate of the project. There is not much space for
:08:51. > :08:53.corruption. So you don't think there was much corruption in projects you
:08:54. > :09:00.are responsible for? I think at the moment the projects we were working
:09:01. > :09:06.on have no problems. In Thailand's politically polarised climate, you
:09:07. > :09:08.never know who is the biggest offender. Corruption seeps into
:09:09. > :09:15.every level of society, including the men in green.
:09:16. > :09:22.We can go back live to the forum that is taking place in China. The
:09:23. > :09:26.Premier, Li Keqiang, is expected to speak. We are waiting for him to
:09:27. > :09:32.speak, but you can see all the delegates who are tending, with many
:09:33. > :09:38.business leaders. They are all keen to hear where China is headed next,
:09:39. > :09:41.it is the world's second largest economy, and there are lots of
:09:42. > :09:46.concerns about the slowdown in China. Concerns about the loss of
:09:47. > :09:51.jobs that a lot of these state-owned companies -- at a lot of these
:09:52. > :09:56.state-owned companies. In the next programme, we hope to bring you a
:09:57. > :10:00.bit about what he said. Lets have a look at the markets, because they
:10:01. > :10:04.are pretty much taking their cues from Wall Street. The Nikkei is
:10:05. > :10:10.lower, and Australia is down as well. We are waiting for the Hang
:10:11. > :10:15.Seng to start trading properly. It is the day after the bombings in
:10:16. > :10:24.Brussels, that has had a big impact, and also the oil prices plunging.
:10:25. > :10:28.That has had a big effect in Australia particularly, where
:10:29. > :10:29.commodity prices are falling. That is it for Asia Business