:00:00. > :00:20.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore
:00:21. > :00:31.The final wake of 2016 and what a year it was! After days of choking
:00:32. > :00:40.smog, we counted the economic costs of China's pollution crisis. Good
:00:41. > :00:47.morning deja, hello world. Happy holidays and glad you could join us
:00:48. > :00:54.that this edition of Asia Business Report. It looks like stocks are
:00:55. > :01:07.enjoying a bit of a Santa Claus rally. Overnight, it was down
:01:08. > :01:12.slightly by 33 points. Overall it has been a rollercoaster ride. It
:01:13. > :01:18.started with what felt like a freefall in Chinese commodity prices
:01:19. > :01:25.followed by the shock of Brexit and the bigger surprise then of Donald
:01:26. > :01:33.Trump as the next president of the United States. We asked what spurred
:01:34. > :01:38.such volatility? It is another year of sub powered growth in global
:01:39. > :01:44.trade and that is what defines what is important for Asia. That in
:01:45. > :01:50.itself allowed for the kind of populism that we saw that led to the
:01:51. > :01:55.Mac and Donald Trump. For Asia, the week growth that allowed those
:01:56. > :02:06.developments defines what the thousand 16 was. Will this red flag
:02:07. > :02:11.fall over into 2017? There are worries about China. It started the
:02:12. > :02:17.year but by the end, things look better, bad. Signs of pickup in
:02:18. > :02:21.demand so we hope that it will carry through into 2017 stop there is
:02:22. > :02:25.still a lot of doubt about whether that is sustainable or not but
:02:26. > :02:30.ultimately we are keeping our fingers crossed and perhaps 2017
:02:31. > :02:37.will be different. We are looking for the Trump effect - he will be
:02:38. > :02:54.president in January. Could we see on deals negotiated? There are risks
:02:55. > :03:02.and it could upset the scenario on recovery. The Donald Trump
:03:03. > :03:09.administration, the initial days, will be defining what 2017 and
:03:10. > :03:14.beyond will be like. Activist investor getting a seat at the
:03:15. > :03:24.policy table. He is to serve as adviser on regulatory reform. There
:03:25. > :03:30.will also be an over -- overseeing of other policy. Mr Karp has been
:03:31. > :03:41.busy with more than just political appointments. -- Mr Trump. He also
:03:42. > :03:48.met with bowing bosses. Boeing CEO told reporters that he discussed the
:03:49. > :03:53.cost of the new Air Force One. We are going to get it done for less
:03:54. > :03:57.than that and we are committed to working together to make sure that
:03:58. > :04:00.happens stop I will give the President elect my personal
:04:01. > :04:07.commitment on behalf of the Boeing Co. We work on Air Force One because
:04:08. > :04:12.it is important to our country and we are going to make sure he gets
:04:13. > :04:17.the best capability. We'll work together and we are at Egypt to get
:04:18. > :04:23.started on the programme. We have not actually started the build of
:04:24. > :04:27.the airplay, once we have finalised the requirements, making sure it is
:04:28. > :04:34.affordable, we will get the production line ready to go. In
:04:35. > :04:39.other news:, Alibaba is back on the US government blacklist for selling
:04:40. > :04:44.pirated goods. It was taken off the notorious least in 2012 but several
:04:45. > :04:50.groups have been lobbying for its reinstatement. The online
:04:51. > :04:56.marketplace sells high levels of counterfeit goods and is slow to
:04:57. > :05:03.respond to complaints. Japan's Cabinet has approved the record new
:05:04. > :05:08.$130 billion spending budget for the spending 2017 year. However, the
:05:09. > :05:13.government is looking to take advantage of the low interest rate
:05:14. > :05:19.environment and weaker yen to push through more social security
:05:20. > :05:25.spending, given it also has one of the world 's fastest ageing
:05:26. > :05:30.population. New Zealand's economy is doing better than expected expanding
:05:31. > :05:34.1.1% cause of increased construction and, as consumers spent more on
:05:35. > :05:42.travel, dining and recreation full the figures give a boost to the
:05:43. > :05:47.Kiwi, New Zealand's new Prime Minister after John Key unexpectedly
:05:48. > :05:51.stepped down. Residents in Beijing may be able to see clearer skies
:05:52. > :05:57.today after weather forecasters say winds overnight will push away the
:05:58. > :06:05.smog that has envelopes much of northern China. They have shut down
:06:06. > :06:14.factories, highways and schools to try to lower the smog by the
:06:15. > :06:20.economic costs of mounting. It is quite substantial so actually it is
:06:21. > :06:25.in Beijing -- in the air in Beijing is more dangerous than smoking
:06:26. > :06:29.cigarettes. Companies are allowed workers to work remotely from home
:06:30. > :06:35.others closed down. It is difficult to attach a number that it is easily
:06:36. > :06:41.over billions of dollars. This choking haze is impacting
:06:42. > :06:45.productivity. What measures are companies take it to be able to
:06:46. > :06:51.overcome this? It is not easy because so far what companies can do
:06:52. > :06:56.is just buying really expensive air purifies and give workers more
:06:57. > :07:06.expensive health insurance package but not that productive because it
:07:07. > :07:11.can lower the work of jobs at home and more of a headache for jobs at
:07:12. > :07:18.home. Beijing called for an all-out war against pollution in 2013 - are
:07:19. > :07:23.they losing it? I do not think they are necessarily losing it because
:07:24. > :07:26.fighting pollution is difficult. They are more ready to acknowledge
:07:27. > :07:34.the problem and do something about it. A lot of industry into
:07:35. > :07:39.neighbouring provinces at starting to feel the impact although it will
:07:40. > :07:45.take years. What is the sentiment regarding the shutdown of factories
:07:46. > :07:51.and businesses? They are not happy about it. A lot of companies rely on
:07:52. > :07:55.people but they cannot be very vocal. It has become more of a
:07:56. > :08:00.political issue. You have to cop or a quick the government, especially
:08:01. > :08:09.in Beijing, if Beijing's pollution is really bad, the factories have to
:08:10. > :08:18.be closed down. There is not much a large individual company can do. The
:08:19. > :08:28.Indian de motorisation effects are still being felt. -- monitoring
:08:29. > :08:29.station. It is a move that has inconvenienced millions of people,
:08:30. > :09:04.including tourists. One of the problems we faced was not
:09:05. > :09:11.being able to afford food. A lot of places do not take card and we had
:09:12. > :09:22.to buy cheap snacks and save money for water so it was not good.
:09:23. > :09:31.A couple of activities we wanted to do that were 2000 rupees and we only
:09:32. > :09:39.had 2000 rupees so we could not do it. It has been a really difficult
:09:40. > :09:44.because if we cannot get cash not everybody takes credit cards so we
:09:45. > :09:49.have had to lead lots of money off our guide. We could not buy any
:09:50. > :09:52.small items from street vendor is because they all want cash and you
:09:53. > :10:14.just do not have that sort of money. Tourist in India having difficulties
:10:15. > :10:19.buying stuff. Looking at the markets... As you can see, most of
:10:20. > :10:30.the traders and dealers on holiday mode. Moving sideways. Thank you so
:10:31. > :10:31.much, Sport Today is up