:00:00. > :00:20.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:21. > :00:30.India's Tata steel is set to sell some of its UK operations in a
:00:31. > :00:41.market flooded with cheap steel. This rare artefact from China going
:00:42. > :00:46.under the hammer in Hong Kong. Good morning, Asia, hello, world. Glad
:00:47. > :00:51.you could join us for this Wednesday edition of Asia Business Report. I
:00:52. > :00:56.am Rico Hizon in Singapore and the British business Secretary is
:00:57. > :01:02.heading to India to secure the future of Tata's steel operations in
:01:03. > :01:08.the UK. It is facing problems because of excessive steel from
:01:09. > :01:16.mainland China and this Wednesday there is expected to be in agreement
:01:17. > :01:19.to take over some of Tata's operations in Britain. The pressure
:01:20. > :01:24.from cheap Chinese products will remain. I spoke to the Vice
:01:25. > :01:28.Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, a famous British steel
:01:29. > :01:32.town. I asked whether he was optimistic about the deal. I am
:01:33. > :01:38.optimistic for part of it. Part of the British steel industry makes
:01:39. > :01:43.high-value, precise components made in modern steel plants. The old part
:01:44. > :01:49.of it is more tough. If you look at Port Talbot, they will have a hard
:01:50. > :01:52.time getting through. So there is a market for high-end steel
:01:53. > :01:56.manufacturers but for the ones making basic steel, that is where
:01:57. > :02:01.you have the Chinese making dime a dozen steel manufacturing. You
:02:02. > :02:06.should be very careful not just to blame China. Written has
:02:07. > :02:11.underinvested in parts of its steel industry and it is old and will have
:02:12. > :02:14.to change anyway. There is a worldwide glut of steel, partly
:02:15. > :02:18.because of the downturn in construction and because of the gas
:02:19. > :02:22.industry. People are not making as much would steal these days.
:02:23. > :02:27.Commodity industry is tanking, there is some kind of recovery but China
:02:28. > :02:30.is also recovering despite the issues of the global steel industry,
:02:31. > :02:36.with millions of people losing their jobs there as well. Absolutely
:02:37. > :02:41.right, and that is what we have to be aware of. China is employing 1.8
:02:42. > :02:45.million people and we have to work with China. Having a trade war,
:02:46. > :02:50.saying China is bad and we are not going to buy their product is not
:02:51. > :02:55.the answer either. With the issues of China, how will this impact the
:02:56. > :02:59.global steel industry, not only for basic steel making but also for
:03:00. > :03:02.high-end steel manufacturers? It is going to take a while for the
:03:03. > :03:06.economy to settle where we have a balance between what is being made
:03:07. > :03:09.and what needs to be bought. It is going to take a couple of years for
:03:10. > :03:13.that to happen and what we must be careful is not to badmouth China and
:03:14. > :03:19.breakdown relationships. We must keep them, looking at the strategic
:03:20. > :03:21.ones, building a nuclear relationship with China. We need
:03:22. > :03:25.precision stuff, we need high-value components, we need an industry that
:03:26. > :03:30.can make it. Across Europe we need to rethink the products we need.
:03:31. > :03:36.What about bringing back import tariffs briefly? The thing we look
:03:37. > :03:43.at, the US has very high import tariffs on Chinese steel so there is
:03:44. > :03:48.big pressure on the UK and Europe to have higher tariffs. We try and
:03:49. > :03:51.balance the idea of other things we are exporting to China so we need to
:03:52. > :03:55.be careful we don't rake the relationships and make it worse for
:03:56. > :04:00.us as a whole. -- break the relationships. Global military
:04:01. > :04:04.spending has risen for the first time since the US began withdrawing
:04:05. > :04:09.troops from the Iraq and Afghanistan. That is according to a
:04:10. > :04:12.peace research Institute which estimates defence spending rising by
:04:13. > :04:17.nearly 1.7 trillion US dollars in 2015. This marks the first increase
:04:18. > :04:21.in three years and part of the reason for the rise is a growing
:04:22. > :04:26.arms race between China and its neighbours. Australia's securities
:04:27. > :04:36.regulator has launched legal action against Westpac, it is accused --
:04:37. > :04:41.tasked with setting the primary interest rate. The Australian
:04:42. > :04:46.Security and investment commission has started proceedings against ANZ
:04:47. > :04:52.bank as well. Both banks have rejected the allegations. Investors
:04:53. > :04:57.are drawn for safe havens -- drawn to safe havens for their money and
:04:58. > :05:01.one of the oldest is gold. In a way, global uncertainty is good news for
:05:02. > :05:04.this precious metal. Since the beginning of the year the price has
:05:05. > :05:13.gone up to 15%. At will it be able to sustain its shine? -- but will
:05:14. > :05:18.it. It is still very hard to forecast the price of gold moving
:05:19. > :05:23.forward but we are quite a leash on gold. We are seeing a lot of demand
:05:24. > :05:26.at this level and we are certainly seeing our production and very high
:05:27. > :05:30.levels at this meant, we see that continuing for the next few months.
:05:31. > :05:36.Whereas the biggest demand for gold in Asia? There is huge demand coming
:05:37. > :05:41.out of China for gold, and most of the gold we refine is going into the
:05:42. > :05:46.Chinese market. Why are the Chinese buying gold? There is a huge,
:05:47. > :05:49.emerging middle and upper-class and the Chinese market and there is a
:05:50. > :05:53.huge demand for gold in terms of jewellery, in terms of buying
:05:54. > :05:59.bullion products, and it is just like any other country. As the
:06:00. > :06:04.middle and upper classes emerge, they are looking to buy gold and
:06:05. > :06:08.also have their safe haven. How much of this rebound can be put down to
:06:09. > :06:13.concerns about the global economy and China's slow down? I would put
:06:14. > :06:17.almost 100% of that down to concerns about the global economy. The
:06:18. > :06:21.slowdown in the Chinese economy will affect many other economies to rout
:06:22. > :06:24.the world. Europe has still got it issues they are trying to work
:06:25. > :06:29.through, the potential for negative interest rates which will really
:06:30. > :06:33.have an impact on investors. And what people do in times of
:06:34. > :06:42.uncertainty, they look for a safe haven and they see gold as that safe
:06:43. > :06:50.haven. Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE is shaking up its
:06:51. > :06:54.management, including its chief executive. It is trying to rebuild
:06:55. > :06:57.its business and reputation after the US commerce Department last
:06:58. > :07:07.month imposed trade sanctions against the company, alleging it
:07:08. > :07:09.violated US trading rules. China's e-commerce giant Alibaba is
:07:10. > :07:14.launching its payment application in Europe to allow Chinese tourists to
:07:15. > :07:24.pay for things overseas. It is the biggest push out of Asia yet for the
:07:25. > :07:28.payment service. Alipay is one of the biggest payment services and
:07:29. > :07:33.competes with Tencent's payment service. It is being billed as the
:07:34. > :07:39.most historic Chinese object ever to be offered at auction. This is a
:07:40. > :07:47.steel at the gate of heaven, belonging to China's longest
:07:48. > :07:51.reigning monarch. It is made out of sandalwood, and it airs the
:07:52. > :08:05.inscription Revere haven't and serve your people. -- Revere heaven. This
:08:06. > :08:13.is the largest seal ever carved for the longest reigning monarch in the
:08:14. > :08:17.history of China. It is a cross between a Dragon and a pig, a
:08:18. > :08:23.supernatural beast, and on the base it has these four characters which
:08:24. > :08:29.means Revere heaven and serve your people. It is a symbol of the
:08:30. > :08:33.heavenly mandate. Does this object automatically confer the mandate of
:08:34. > :08:39.Heaven or do you have to win that mandate by overthrowing the previous
:08:40. > :08:42.emperor in battle or other ways? What the steel says it is you have
:08:43. > :08:48.to serve your people in order to be the legitimate ruler. Only a
:08:49. > :08:53.benevolent ruler can be empowered. That is what it really says. What
:08:54. > :08:58.does an object like this suggest about the nature of political power
:08:59. > :09:03.in China? The concept of the mandate of heaven is still very clearly
:09:04. > :09:07.present in the psyche of the Chinese people. During the end of Chairman
:09:08. > :09:10.Mao's reign there was a huge earthquake and a lot of people took
:09:11. > :09:16.this as a possible sign he was losing the mandate of heaven. Where
:09:17. > :09:21.has this field in the past 300 years? It is very, very difficult to
:09:22. > :09:26.pinpoint where it was in the last 50 or 100 years because until 20 years
:09:27. > :09:29.ago historical works of art like these were not particularly sought
:09:30. > :09:34.after. It would have been kept in the Palace of Ancestors, overlooking
:09:35. > :09:38.the forbidden city up until the early 20th century. It may have left
:09:39. > :09:43.China during the Boxer Rebellion. That is possible. And it would have
:09:44. > :09:48.been in Europe for many decades afterwards. So the value of this
:09:49. > :09:52.item lies in its association with its owner. Exactly, is a work of art
:09:53. > :09:57.it is very beautiful, it is a very large piece of sandalwood. But its
:09:58. > :10:01.value commercially is quite limited. The value is really in the four
:10:02. > :10:09.characters, and what the seal symbolises. That it is a real
:10:10. > :10:13.historical work of art and there has been a market for these things in
:10:14. > :10:17.China, Taiwan and Hong Kong for the last 50 years. And we will find out
:10:18. > :10:21.how much this sandalwood seal will be fetching at an auction in Hong
:10:22. > :10:26.Kong. Here is a quick look at the markets, and Asian stocks are
:10:27. > :10:29.currently moving sideways to higher this Wednesday, after US equities
:10:30. > :10:34.fell overnight due to weak economic data out of Europe and the US. Thank
:10:35. > :10:35.you so much for investing your time with