:00:07. > :00:09.I'm Kasia Madera, with BBC World News.
:00:10. > :00:13.Our top story: The UK's new Prime Minister, Theresa May has
:00:14. > :00:17.officially moved into Downing Street and begun work.
:00:18. > :00:20.Mrs May has promised the country will forge a positive role
:00:21. > :00:27.Boris Johnson, the former London Mayor, becomes Foreign
:00:28. > :00:32.Japan's Emperor Akihito had indicated his intention to abdicate,
:00:33. > :00:35.but the palace has denied what would be an unprecedented move
:00:36. > :00:40.And this story is trending on bbc.com.
:00:41. > :00:43.India's national postal service is to deliver bottled holy water
:00:44. > :00:47.from the River Ganges through the mail.
:00:48. > :00:50.The Zee News website says the water, known as Gangajal,
:00:51. > :00:55.The river is sacred to Hindus, but is also badly polluted.
:00:56. > :01:07.Another Labour MP is to stand against Jeremy Corbyn
:01:08. > :01:15.Owen Smith has announced he will also run along
:01:16. > :01:19.with Angela Eagle, who declared she would run on Monday.
:01:20. > :01:32.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:01:33. > :01:43.Better times ahead. A pickup in China helps young brands boost its
:01:44. > :01:46.profit forecast. And we need the award-winning actress who left the
:01:47. > :01:58.big screen behind to provide an ancient Chinese technique.
:01:59. > :02:01.-- to revive. Good morning! Glad you could join us for this edition of
:02:02. > :02:09.Asia Business Report. I'm Rico Hizon. We start with young brands,
:02:10. > :02:14.the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut. The company has given an upbeat
:02:15. > :02:21.assessment of its China business as it prepares to create a spin off
:02:22. > :02:24.later this year. The better performance has prompted the company
:02:25. > :02:32.to increase its profit growth forecast to at least 14%. It earned
:02:33. > :02:38.$3 billion in revenue for the second quarter. Earlier I spoke to someone
:02:39. > :02:45.from a China market research company. I asked about the lace --
:02:46. > :02:54.latest numbers and whether it is over the hill after the food scare.
:02:55. > :03:00.They have posted four straight quarters of positive sales growth.
:03:01. > :03:03.That's a positive measure and indicates that the improvements they
:03:04. > :03:08.have been making to their store designs and menus have had an
:03:09. > :03:13.effect. So I think in the short term that is a strong sign for them in
:03:14. > :03:17.terms of where they were one or two years ago. However, in the longer
:03:18. > :03:19.term I still see issues for them as the overall market is shifting away
:03:20. > :03:27.from fast food towards healthier choices. Indeed, fast food to
:03:28. > :03:33.healthier choices. Is this why they've basically adopted the
:03:34. > :03:38.strategy of spinning off the business into China? It does a
:03:39. > :03:43.couple of things for them. Spinning off the China business definitely
:03:44. > :03:47.minimises the exposure to risk that Yum has, should there be another
:03:48. > :03:55.food safety scandal, which it could not afford in China. So it reduces
:03:56. > :03:58.that exposure. It also allows them to raise money privately. I guess
:03:59. > :04:04.the issue there is that, versus when they began plans to do this, they no
:04:05. > :04:10.longer are really be hot food and privilege player that they once were
:04:11. > :04:13.in China. -- food and beverage. Especially as they expand into other
:04:14. > :04:25.cities that are less foreign law in the shift to healthier options. --
:04:26. > :04:28.less far along. That was James Roy, joining us earlier from Shanghai.
:04:29. > :04:34.The Japanese government has slashed the growth forecast to 0.9% for the
:04:35. > :04:39.year to March and that is down sharply from an earlier estimate of
:04:40. > :04:45.1.7%. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is said to be preparing a package to
:04:46. > :04:49.help boost the flagging economy. The Asian central bank has decided the
:04:50. > :04:53.potential impact of the Brexit means it will cut rates for the first time
:04:54. > :04:58.in seven years. The cost of borrowing now stands at 3%. Malaysia
:04:59. > :05:03.said the move is aimed at keeping the country on a steady growth path.
:05:04. > :05:09.The Malaysian currency has been one of the biggest losers, after the
:05:10. > :05:13.UK's vote to leave the EU, as it is seen as a riskier asset by Chinese
:05:14. > :05:20.investors. An economist explains why it expects Malaysia's growth to slow
:05:21. > :05:23.down Sydney Bickely as a result. The external environment had been
:05:24. > :05:32.deteriorating over the last 18 months. -- slow down significantly.
:05:33. > :05:36.Because of the slowdown in China and the impact of oil prices on
:05:37. > :05:45.Malaysian exports of oil and gas. So top of all of that, to now also have
:05:46. > :05:51.the European environment is deteriorating, how on estimate is
:05:52. > :05:58.that Malaysian economic growth will still be around 4.2%, so still a
:05:59. > :06:04.good performance, but it is slowing down. We expect that in 2017 the
:06:05. > :06:08.impact of Brexit may also shave a little bit off Malaysian growth. So
:06:09. > :06:13.taking those factors into account this is a good decision by the
:06:14. > :06:18.Malaysian central bank. APEC economist in the wake of the
:06:19. > :06:26.Brexit vote. Concerns have been swirling about impact on the British
:06:27. > :06:33.economy. One of Malaysia's against economists included. Its stakes are
:06:34. > :06:37.in British property and utilities, including a hotel in Bath, and plans
:06:38. > :06:43.for a new housing development with thousands of homes. We spoke to the
:06:44. > :06:47.head of the company, that said Britain's new government needs to do
:06:48. > :06:55.more to attract foreign investment. If Britain wants to move forward it
:06:56. > :07:07.can. Now we have in Theresa May a very thorough leader, very on the
:07:08. > :07:13.ball, she is probably the right person to do this job now. What does
:07:14. > :07:23.the new government have to do to attract more foreign investment? It
:07:24. > :07:30.needs to move ahead. The infrastructure must be built
:07:31. > :07:33.quickly. A great leader will have to do that. A great chancellor will
:07:34. > :07:38.have to make sure that money moves to infrastructure and push it
:07:39. > :07:42.thoroughly. By the private sector, that's where a lot of investments
:07:43. > :07:45.can come in. Given all the uncertainty, would you think twice
:07:46. > :07:54.about putting more money into Britain? No. The UK is -- as an
:07:55. > :08:01.investor's destination has not changed. It is a blessing in
:08:02. > :08:05.disguise. Many people in Britain might feel it is well disguised, but
:08:06. > :08:07.for me it is even more worth investing in with the pound at this
:08:08. > :08:16.level. That was the big loss of YTL
:08:17. > :08:20.Corporation. Workers in South Korea are planning
:08:21. > :08:23.to go on strike after annual wage negotiations with management broke
:08:24. > :08:27.down. This year the union has asked for a 7.2% rise in the basic monthly
:08:28. > :08:32.rage. Other demands include giving employees a right to refuse a
:08:33. > :08:39.promotion, so they can retain their union measured. -- monthly wage.
:08:40. > :08:42.If you were an award-winning actress you might think you've got your
:08:43. > :08:47.dream job, but today we meet the woman who stumbled on a completely
:08:48. > :08:51.new career. She left the film industry along with her director
:08:52. > :08:54.husband to start making glassware using an ancient Chinese technique
:08:55. > :09:12.and the company is now recognised worldwide.
:09:13. > :09:19.TRANSLATION: I think it was destiny that I went into making this. In my
:09:20. > :09:27.last film I saw some props that were made of glass. I thought they were
:09:28. > :09:32.absolutely beautiful. I didn't have any experience in art, other than
:09:33. > :09:35.enjoyed drawing as a child. We are later found out that the technique
:09:36. > :09:39.is the most complicated and time-consuming in glassmaking. You
:09:40. > :09:52.don't know under the last moment as to whether you have succeeded. When
:09:53. > :09:56.we started making LIULI, there wasn't a school or anyone with
:09:57. > :10:02.console. Each day I felt like I was trying to solve a riddle. After the
:10:03. > :10:07.first 3.5 years we had accumulated a mountain of broken glass and used up
:10:08. > :10:12.all of our money, about $5.5 million. We sold our house, taken up
:10:13. > :10:18.debt and borrowed money from family and friends. I think it isn't enough
:10:19. > :10:23.for a person to just have a very strong passion. They have to be mad
:10:24. > :10:33.to achieve their goal. But we didn't think of giving up. If we gave up we
:10:34. > :10:41.would be back to zero. Every step has its difficulties, but the
:10:42. > :10:47.important part is when you put it into the kill to be fired at high
:10:48. > :10:49.temperatures. If the tab at the isn't well controlled it means the
:10:50. > :10:57.glass material inside will not fuse together well. Or the material and
:10:58. > :11:05.passed on a stick together. -- and plaster. Many people looking from
:11:06. > :11:09.the outside think being an actress and making Liuli art are very
:11:10. > :11:13.different, to me they are the same. Acting requires one to put all of
:11:14. > :11:19.oneself into a roll and I have simply put myself into the role of
:11:20. > :11:30.making Liuli creations. I think I will do this forever. Liuli art is
:11:31. > :11:34.my life's exploration and answer. A quick look at the markets. As you
:11:35. > :11:41.can see, Asia continues its winning streak. Nikkei up by 0.4% and the
:11:42. > :11:45.All Ords higher by 12 points. This is after gains on Wall Street
:11:46. > :11:47.overnight. Thank you for investing your time with us. Goodbye for now.