:00:00. > :00:13.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:24.The de facto head of the Samsung empire could face arrest over a
:00:25. > :00:34.major corruption scandal. And Brexit means Brexit, the pound surges after
:00:35. > :00:39.UK Prime Minister Theresa May vows to quit the European Union. Good
:00:40. > :00:44.morning, welcome to Asia Business Report, live from Singapore, with
:00:45. > :00:48.me, Mariko Oi. The head of Samsung, JY Lee, has arrived at a South
:00:49. > :00:51.Korean court and the judge will be deciding today whether he should be
:00:52. > :00:55.arrested over his alleged involvement in a major corruption
:00:56. > :01:00.scandal. For the latest, let's go live to Kevin Kim in Seoul. Thank
:01:01. > :01:05.you for joining us this morning. This is a huge deal, isn't it? But
:01:06. > :01:10.when are we expecting the outcome, and are there any hints what the
:01:11. > :01:14.judge might decide? Well, we will probably be hearing the results
:01:15. > :01:19.later tonight, or possibly even tomorrow. JY Lee, the head of
:01:20. > :01:24.Samsung, was seen arriving in court with a grim faced, and the judge
:01:25. > :01:29.will soon be hearing the arguments. Prosecutors believe Samsung has
:01:30. > :01:34.committed bribery and has asked JY Lee, the head of South Korea's
:01:35. > :01:37.largest company, to be jailed. The allegation is that Samsung gave
:01:38. > :01:43.millions of dollars in return for the votes of the national pension
:01:44. > :01:48.fund, in a bid and contested restructuring of the company. Last
:01:49. > :01:51.week JY Lee was summoned as a suspect and was questioned for
:01:52. > :01:56.almost 24 hours. After filing an arrest warrant on Monday,
:01:57. > :02:00.investigators said in a news conference that, despite some
:02:01. > :02:03.concerns that JY Lee's arrest may have a negative effect on the
:02:04. > :02:11.economy, establishing justice was more important. I mean, we have seen
:02:12. > :02:14.some of the business leaders of big conglomerates in South Korea being
:02:15. > :02:19.in trouble with the authorities before, but is it fair to say that
:02:20. > :02:25.this is the first time that he could actually be jailed? Well, if JY Lee
:02:26. > :02:32.does get detained, it will be a big blow to the image of the company. So
:02:33. > :02:39.far no member of the Samsung family has ever spent time behind bars. His
:02:40. > :02:42.arrest may not affect short-term production or the running of the
:02:43. > :02:47.firm but there does seem to be a growing anxiety of the long-term
:02:48. > :02:51.implications. Samsung is one of the biggest electronic companies in the
:02:52. > :02:56.world, and for the head of the company involved in a corruption
:02:57. > :03:01.scandal, would be seen as a huge embarrassment. Thank you so much for
:03:02. > :03:06.updating us, Kevin Kim in Seoul, and I'm sure you will be across the
:03:07. > :03:10.story as we find out more. You know you are in strange times when the
:03:11. > :03:15.head of Communist China speaks passionately about free trade around
:03:16. > :03:17.the world, while America's president in waiting speaks equally
:03:18. > :03:24.passionately about the damage it does. Xi Jinping's address to the
:03:25. > :03:29.World Economic Forum, in Davos, focused on economic growth. Here is
:03:30. > :03:33.what we had to say. TRANSLATION: We must remain committed to developing
:03:34. > :03:39.free trade and investment, promote trade and investment liberalisation
:03:40. > :03:48.and facilitation, through opening up, and say no to protectionism. No
:03:49. > :03:53.one will emerge as a winner in a trade war. President Xi Jinping
:03:54. > :03:56.speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It is actually the first
:03:57. > :04:05.time a Chinese leader has attended the gathering, and fought China,
:04:06. > :04:08.finally -- finding its voice on the global economic stage. So in the
:04:09. > :04:14.wake of the Chinese President's speech in Davos, a little bit of
:04:15. > :04:18.irony has come into play. Is it not normally the United States, the
:04:19. > :04:21.leader of the free world, which is championing globalisation and the
:04:22. > :04:26.opening of Borders? No, it appears that the United States is more in a
:04:27. > :04:31.mood to put up some walls and create barriers. Meanwhile, China, of
:04:32. > :04:36.course, historically much more closed in terms of trade, but it
:04:37. > :04:38.benefited enormously from globalisation, is now saying
:04:39. > :04:46.globalisation is a good thing. Describes it as Pandora's box, once
:04:47. > :04:50.opened, many things may come out, some good and some bad but it is
:04:51. > :04:55.really a question of managing those bad things. Xi Jinping described the
:04:56. > :04:59.global economy as an ocean in which China had struggled at times to get
:05:00. > :05:04.and to survive, but now had learnt to swim and it was absolutely not
:05:05. > :05:09.time to retreat to the creeks and small rivers of the globe. Another
:05:10. > :05:16.big topic in da Boss is the UK's decision to leave the European
:05:17. > :05:18.Union. -- Davos. And British prime Minister Theresa May has revealed
:05:19. > :05:22.her long-awaited plan for Brexit. She has made clear that the UK will
:05:23. > :05:26.quit the single European market as part of moves to control immigration
:05:27. > :05:29.but she insisted that the British government would not turn its back
:05:30. > :05:34.on Europe. The Prime Minister says she wants a trade deal with the
:05:35. > :05:37.other 27 members of the European Union, under what is called a
:05:38. > :05:41.Customs agreement. But she is warning that the UK could walk away
:05:42. > :05:46.if it is a bad deal. Here is what she had to say. Not partial
:05:47. > :05:49.ownership of the European Union, associate them to ship of the
:05:50. > :05:55.European Union, or anything that leaves us half in, half out. I want
:05:56. > :06:01.to be clear. What I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single
:06:02. > :06:07.market. Business leaders are still divided on the implications of
:06:08. > :06:13.Brexit, but most of them seemed to welcome at least some clarity from
:06:14. > :06:18.the prime Minister -- membership. Our business editor has been talking
:06:19. > :06:22.to some of them in Davos. There is nothing like a bit of mountain air
:06:23. > :06:25.to give you clarity. Business leaders gathered in Switzerland were
:06:26. > :06:30.watching the prime minister for exactly that. Did they get it?
:06:31. > :06:35.Clarity, first of all. Really codify in what many of us are expecting
:06:36. > :06:38.around the result, particularly around the single market. We are
:06:39. > :06:41.also seeing the government's willingness to put a bit of edge
:06:42. > :06:44.into the negotiating dynamic. That makes a lot of sense. Trade
:06:45. > :06:48.negotiations are negotiations and you have to be pretty tough to get
:06:49. > :06:52.what you want. For some, the uncertainty is still too great. In
:06:53. > :06:56.London, the insurance market has already decided to move some
:06:57. > :07:03.business to Europe. We still have to pursue a subsidiary in the EU for
:07:04. > :07:06.post- Brexit world, meaning that we can still serve our customers and
:07:07. > :07:12.policyholders in those European Union countries. So no ifs, no buts,
:07:13. > :07:16.no single market. Clarity, yes. Desired outcome, not for everyone.
:07:17. > :07:20.And with the continued argument over whether we are a partial member of
:07:21. > :07:25.the customs union, many companies will say it takes a continent to
:07:26. > :07:29.build a car and if there are hold-ups at the border that could be
:07:30. > :07:35.bad news. And the car industry gave MPs its version of clarity. The cars
:07:36. > :07:41.that we import, and remember we import about 80% of the vehicles we
:07:42. > :07:47.sell in the UK, that would add about ?2.7 billion, or about ?1500 per car
:07:48. > :07:50.sold. Financial markets were watching closely as well. Suddenly
:07:51. > :07:56.the pound rocketed against the dollar, at the very moment the prime
:07:57. > :08:01.Minister offered MPs a chance to vote on any final deal, markets
:08:02. > :08:07.making one last bet that Brexit could still be derailed. But even
:08:08. > :08:11.some of the business world's staunchest remainers weren't fooled,
:08:12. > :08:14.and a knuckling down to the political reality. Most businesses
:08:15. > :08:17.are trying to move forward positively, trying to ensure that
:08:18. > :08:21.the complexity of this is well understood and we take the steps
:08:22. > :08:24.both in government and business to deal with this and minimise the
:08:25. > :08:27.impact of this very complex process. Government shed some light on its
:08:28. > :08:31.priorities, but his listeners we are still in the foothills of a massive
:08:32. > :08:38.undertaking. -- business knows we are still in the foothills. In other
:08:39. > :08:43.business news, shares in Toshiba are rising by as much as 5% in Tokyo
:08:44. > :08:46.after the company said it is considering a spin-off of its
:08:47. > :08:52.semiconductor business to raise money. According to the Nikkei
:08:53. > :09:01.newspaper, it may also sell a 20% stake in the unit to Western Digital
:09:02. > :09:05.for $2.7 billion. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has denied a
:09:06. > :09:10.suggestion that its toll virtual reality technology from a rival
:09:11. > :09:14.firm. He faced hours of tough questioning on Tuesday. Earlier our
:09:15. > :09:18.North American technology reporter provided more details about the
:09:19. > :09:22.case. Mark Zuckerberg was on the stand wearing not his typical grey
:09:23. > :09:25.T-shirt but a full suit and tie and while he was there his company,
:09:26. > :09:31.Facebook, was accused of essentially stealing technology from another
:09:32. > :09:36.firm, which worked very closely with Oculus, the virtual reality firm, in
:09:37. > :09:42.its early days and the company says it was their input which made the
:09:43. > :09:50.did buy the company for $2 billion Facebook wanted
:09:51. > :09:54.in 2014 and shortly after that deal, a lawsuit. Mark Zuckerberg, on the
:09:55. > :09:58.stand, said it is typical when a big deal is made for companies to come
:09:59. > :10:02.out the woodwork and claim some kind of credit for that work. He said all
:10:03. > :10:06.the innovation in that headset was done by the oculus team, and the
:10:07. > :10:13.Oculus team alone. The trial will last for about three weeks. Let's
:10:14. > :10:18.show you markets before we go. This is how Asian markets have started
:10:19. > :10:22.trading this morning, taking the cue from Wall Street and opening lower.
:10:23. > :10:23.That's it for this edition of Asia Business Report. Thank you for
:10:24. > :10:25.watching.