:00:12. > :00:21.A force to be reckoned with, Lee Ming let the Olympic cauldron four
:00:22. > :00:28.years ago, how will his company fair as it reports its earnings today? A
:00:29. > :00:30.1-way ride out or Taiwan with a company confronting regulators over
:00:31. > :00:41.accusations it misused its business licence. Good morning Asia, hello
:00:42. > :00:46.world, it is a Wednesday, glad you can join us for this edition of Asia
:00:47. > :00:55.Business Report. Every four years at the Olympics offers a marketing
:00:56. > :01:00.bonanza for sports clothing. Should Adidas and Nike worry about Nike,
:01:01. > :01:06.the Chinese Olympic gymnast who lit the coltan at the 2008 Olympic
:01:07. > :01:09.Games? He is the founder of a sportswear company that bears its
:01:10. > :01:11.name and it reports its earnings today -- cauldron. Can it cash in on
:01:12. > :01:17.the excitement surrounding the Olympic Games? Earlier, I spoke with
:01:18. > :01:22.a branding expert, Steve McGuinness, who told me how Lee Ming became such
:01:23. > :01:26.a success. It was a fantastic success in marketing and will go
:01:27. > :01:30.down as one of the most successful. Not even an Olympic sponsor, he let
:01:31. > :01:36.the Olympic torch, everyone knew who he was and that springboard at him
:01:37. > :01:41.into global notoriety as a brand. He was an Olympic hero in China and now
:01:42. > :01:48.he has really crossed many markets around the world but how are they
:01:49. > :01:53.Ferring right now in the games? They have a small presence, sponsoring
:01:54. > :01:59.the Indian team, which is a smart move -- Ferring right now. They
:02:00. > :02:05.simply can't afford it. What they are doing is, in targeting the
:02:06. > :02:08.Indian teams, the Filipino teams, Malaysia, they are backing
:02:09. > :02:11.basketball teams, badminton teams, be popular sports in those markets,
:02:12. > :02:15.they are looking at their demographic, who can afford at a
:02:16. > :02:18.pair of running shoes, they are looking at the sports badminton and
:02:19. > :02:21.basketball, looking at the demographic of a billion people. I
:02:22. > :02:25.know! LAUGHTER. And of course you have the
:02:26. > :02:31.Asia-Pacific region making up two thirds of the global condition. But
:02:32. > :02:34.Steve, not many of these teams win medals in the Olympics! Yes, but
:02:35. > :02:40.they don't directly sell running shoes. He is looking at building a
:02:41. > :02:43.global brand. A number of sports personalities have turned it into a
:02:44. > :02:46.celebrity role as an indoors or a sponsor but to turn it into a
:02:47. > :02:53.successful retail brand, one of the first that has grown up truly
:02:54. > :02:57.online, especially in the heartland of China, this is phenomenal success
:02:58. > :03:04.from a very smart man -- endorsers. Is it the edge of the leading brand
:03:05. > :03:10.over the Adidas, the Nike, and the Pumas? I think Lee Ming will turn
:03:11. > :03:15.from a Chinese brand looking globally to being a global brand
:03:16. > :03:19.with a Chinese heritage. I think Adidas and Nike, while they'd only
:03:20. > :03:24.to lose sleep, they should look over their shoulder at about how the sky
:03:25. > :03:28.has gained such ground. -- but about. If you were to advise Lee
:03:29. > :03:36.Ming about positioning the brand even further, and raising the anti-,
:03:37. > :03:41.what would you tell them? Lifestyle -- ante. There is a crossover
:03:42. > :03:46.between sports brands and lifestyle brands. Nike, Adidas, they have a
:03:47. > :03:49.lifestyle range. It is attached to the brand but slightly separate from
:03:50. > :03:53.it. That is where you can move into. There is a very strong attachment in
:03:54. > :03:58.his home country. He is appealing clearly to enlarge demographic. And
:03:59. > :04:04.smaller entry point products to allow the people in these less
:04:05. > :04:09.disposable income market to buy into that brand. That was the. In other
:04:10. > :04:14.news: making headlines, the second-biggest bank, Commonwealth
:04:15. > :04:16.bank are posting record profits, the seventh straight record, with a
:04:17. > :04:20.strong demand for home loans fuelling a 3% rise in earnings.
:04:21. > :04:24.Despite the gains of Australian banks are preparing for a slowing
:04:25. > :04:33.growth after years of huge profits as the mining downturn leads to
:04:34. > :04:36.higher corporate debts and staff -- tougher capital requirements. BT is
:04:37. > :04:42.seeking buyers for the 50% stake in the Chinese petrochemicals
:04:43. > :04:47.joint-venture -- BP. It is BP's single biggest investment in the
:04:48. > :04:50.mainland. A successful deal would mark BP's first significant exit
:04:51. > :04:56.from a business in the mainland which is expected to fetch two
:04:57. > :05:01.million dollars- $3 billion US. And Walt Disney surprising that market
:05:02. > :05:08.by posting strong quarterly profit and unexpected -- $2 billion - $3
:05:09. > :05:15.billion. It saw a 40% jump in revenue. Asia is home to a robust
:05:16. > :05:19.animation industry, so what kind of competition to these production
:05:20. > :05:26.houses close to the big players? For more, let's bring in David Kwok from
:05:27. > :05:30.his Singapore studio Tiny Island Productions. Animation is so popular
:05:31. > :05:37.here in Asia. For a production company like yours, can you stand
:05:38. > :05:42.independently and make your own titles grow, or do you have to work
:05:43. > :05:46.with big companies like Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks and Lucas Films?
:05:47. > :05:53.Basically we created intellectual property, known as Dream Defenders,
:05:54. > :06:01.and we have sold the show as an independent one. It is an animated
:06:02. > :06:05.feature that basically shows Dream Defenders of fighting the nightmares
:06:06. > :06:11.of kids. Yeah, an animated series for kids and we are in planning for
:06:12. > :06:17.the future. So today we have sold to 80 countries worldwide. And
:06:18. > :06:22.currently, it is distributed by DreamWorks. But where is all the
:06:23. > :06:26.growth coming from in Asia? Oh, it is from China. The box office in
:06:27. > :06:31.China is growing tremendously, and we see a great opportunity,
:06:32. > :06:34.especially for consumer products. For licensing and merchandising. The
:06:35. > :06:39.big market is in China, but where is the talent pool coming from in the
:06:40. > :06:48.region? OK, in Asia it is interesting, because we are at
:06:49. > :06:52.absorbing a lot of talent all over Asia and there is a great pool and
:06:53. > :06:56.great ideas. Great pool, but is there enough of them in Asia? You
:06:57. > :07:02.also have the big Hollywood studios coming to Asia for the cheaper
:07:03. > :07:07.labour. OK, actually, I think in Asia it is slowly moving up the
:07:08. > :07:13.value chain. A lot of preproduction is done in Asia. And there are a lot
:07:14. > :07:21.of new ideas and new concepts coming. And you see, if you look at
:07:22. > :07:24.more and more of the investment even in Hollywood films, they are slowly
:07:25. > :07:29.coming from Asia. And what are the trends going forward, and how do you
:07:30. > :07:35.deal with intellectual property? OK, in order to compete, we need new
:07:36. > :07:40.ideas. As you can see, you know, the TV market is slowly changing.
:07:41. > :07:44.Consumers won't be satisfied just watching TV. So, like, now we are
:07:45. > :07:49.moving towards virtual reality, meaning the kids are able not just
:07:50. > :07:55.to watch superheroes fight nightmare monsters, they can actually go into
:07:56. > :07:58.the world, the virtual world, and fight the monsters side-by-side with
:07:59. > :08:04.their superheroes. What about intellectual property, can you be
:08:05. > :08:07.protected? Oh, because, you know, intellectual property is really
:08:08. > :08:14.making money, so we can see that more and more we are putting
:08:15. > :08:17.together to protect the interest of the owners. OK, a great future for
:08:18. > :08:23.animation here in the Asia-Pacific region. David Kwok, thank you for
:08:24. > :08:28.joining us. Well, on the heels of the decision to quit China, Uber
:08:29. > :08:33.could be ejected from neighbouring Taiwan after a local regulator
:08:34. > :08:36.accused the car handling at of misusing its business licence. They
:08:37. > :08:41.are in discussion this week before the government makes a final
:08:42. > :08:45.decision. Our correspondent reports. It has been a long and bumpy road in
:08:46. > :08:50.Asia for Uber, which connects drivers with passengers through
:08:51. > :08:53.their smartphones. Taiwan has said that Uber's licence could be revoked
:08:54. > :08:58.because it was registered as a software company, not a taxi
:08:59. > :09:04.service. A business that is not open to foreign enterprises. TRANSLATION:
:09:05. > :09:09.Our ministry of transportation and the fair Trade Commission have
:09:10. > :09:12.already find Uber Taiwan but Uber Taiwan often claim they have no
:09:13. > :09:18.relationship with the international Uber company -- fined. But the
:09:19. > :09:20.general manager of Uber in the Taiwan region has been conducting
:09:21. > :09:27.illegal activities and illegal operations. The Taiwanese government
:09:28. > :09:31.says it will discuss options with the US company but this spat is just
:09:32. > :09:37.the latest problem to a flick the car handling app. It has long
:09:38. > :09:42.encountered opposition from taxi companies around the region, it
:09:43. > :09:45.entered Taiwan three years ago and triggered anger from domestic taxi
:09:46. > :09:51.drivers who staged protests as recently as July. Uber's faced
:09:52. > :09:55.similar legal scrutiny in China, where the company was losing $1
:09:56. > :10:00.billion a year. After years of fierce and costly competition with a
:10:01. > :10:07.local Chinese rival, Uber finally surrendered. Last week it announced
:10:08. > :10:12.an agreement to merge Uber's China operations into DD, giving its
:10:13. > :10:18.investors a 20% stake in the Chinese company.
:10:19. > :10:22.A lot of uncertainty and no market moving news in Asia this Wednesday,
:10:23. > :10:36.which is why we have seen the Asian markets mostly in negative
:10:37. > :10:37.territory, the Nikkei down 9%. All of the Olympics and Sport Today up