:00:00. > :00:00.on getting a good Brexit deal for all the UK.
:00:00. > :00:12.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:13. > :00:21.$65 billion, the size of the deal Saudi Arabia is closing with China.
:00:22. > :00:26.We look at what is in it for both sides. And what will happen to US
:00:27. > :00:38.companies doing business with China if Trump follows through on his
:00:39. > :00:43.campaign promises? It is Friday, everyone. Good morning, Asia, hello,
:00:44. > :00:48.world, glad you could join us for this edition of Asia Business
:00:49. > :00:52.Report. I am Rico Hizon. We start off with Saudi Arabia's King Salman,
:00:53. > :00:56.he is visiting Beijing and hasn't come empty-handed. The world's
:00:57. > :01:01.largest oil-producing state has signed deals worth up to $65 billion
:01:02. > :01:04.to cement ties to the world's second largest economy. That is a
:01:05. > :01:11.significant amount but where is the money going to? That is a question I
:01:12. > :01:14.posed earlier to an analyst. It is a big number indeed, but there are no
:01:15. > :01:20.details behind it. What we do know is that a lot of that was letters of
:01:21. > :01:23.intent, MoUs, a sickly are very preliminary understanding. Very
:01:24. > :01:27.preliminary deals. We don't know if all of them will pan out. I think
:01:28. > :01:33.what the underlying message here is, the bigger one, is that Saudi Arabia
:01:34. > :01:38.has money to invest in this region. Despite low oil prices, now hovering
:01:39. > :01:42.at $50 a barrel? Yes, so they have been struggling as well. We have
:01:43. > :01:45.seen bonds issued by the Saudi government but relatively they still
:01:46. > :01:49.have deep pockets and I think it is very important for them to cement
:01:50. > :01:53.their relationship with really important crude customers in this
:01:54. > :01:58.part of the world. But when do you think will these so-called letters
:01:59. > :02:03.of intent, these agreements, come to fruition, if ever? Yes, that is very
:02:04. > :02:07.difficult to see. But I think what is very obvious is that it is a very
:02:08. > :02:11.natural, important relationship between the world's biggest crude
:02:12. > :02:16.exporter and now China as the world's biggest crude importer. Now
:02:17. > :02:23.Chinese demand is not going to continue growing as strongly as it
:02:24. > :02:27.has in the past decade but this relationship as to evolve from being
:02:28. > :02:31.just a crude supplier, Saudi Arabia now want to get into refining,
:02:32. > :02:37.petrochemicals, both at home and abroad and certainly in Asia. As the
:02:38. > :02:42.US Secretary of State prepares to arrive in Beijing this weekend, the
:02:43. > :02:45.prospect of a trade war between the world's two largest economies is
:02:46. > :02:51.lingering. But any move by Washington to increase tax on
:02:52. > :02:54.imports to try to protect US jobs would almost certainly mean
:02:55. > :02:59.retaliation from Beijing. US companies sell just about everything
:03:00. > :03:05.to China, from cars to fruit. A Shanghai correspondent has more.
:03:06. > :03:11.Best robbery, fresh, sweet, and maybe the next weapon in a
:03:12. > :03:14.transpacific trade war. -- the strawberry. China's ever expanding
:03:15. > :03:21.middle-class love fresh fruit, so much so that US firms like Driscolls
:03:22. > :03:29.have set up to grow in China. There is also a place for its California
:03:30. > :03:34.strawberries. They will be flown in and they will be pricey. China adds
:03:35. > :03:39.14% on fresh strawberries from the US. The prospect of a hike any time
:03:40. > :03:43.soon could squash sales. Certainly we would be concerned from the
:03:44. > :03:49.standpoint of how our product may be affected any type trade issues
:03:50. > :03:53.between our two countries. But certainly for us, what we can do is
:03:54. > :03:58.we can continue to focus on premium, that is the best thing we can do to
:03:59. > :04:03.ensure that consumers are willing to pay. It is not just the china
:04:04. > :04:07.ambitions of fresh fruit that could be at stake. Ford could face a bump
:04:08. > :04:11.on the road for one of its iconic brands. Made in America but on sale
:04:12. > :04:16.for a few years now in China, this is make or break for Lincoln. It has
:04:17. > :04:20.been a bit of a fading brand in the Ford portfolio, although recently
:04:21. > :04:24.sales have ticked up in the State. But if these drivers here in China
:04:25. > :04:27.don't embrace Lincoln, then it could be the end of the road for the car
:04:28. > :04:31.that has carried presidents. This giant is made in Kentucky then
:04:32. > :04:36.shipped to China. It costs twice as much here. Part of the reason for
:04:37. > :04:43.that is the import tax, 25%. On the prospect of an increase, Lincoln's
:04:44. > :04:46.parent company, Ford, told the BBC it would evaluate the situation
:04:47. > :04:50.should the need arise, but it would not comment on speculation. I
:04:51. > :04:54.believe that most American companies feel that, both in Beijing and
:04:55. > :04:58.Washington, that the two leaders of the two governments appreciate that
:04:59. > :05:01.the stakes are too high, and this would be harmful and unproductive
:05:02. > :05:04.for either country, so the expectation of a trade war, you
:05:05. > :05:10.know, is quite low if not non-existent. What about china's
:05:11. > :05:22.consumers? Are they swayed by price, provenance, politics? Why? Because I
:05:23. > :05:29.like the taste, delicious. You think American ones are better? Yes. I
:05:30. > :05:32.don't think so. What if your leaders said to you to buy American fruit,
:05:33. > :05:41.you should buy locally? Does that matter? We can choose by ourselves.
:05:42. > :05:46.Trade war or no trade war, china sometimes plays by its own rules.
:05:47. > :05:52.The US -based chocolate manufacturer Hershey 's has had a factory here
:05:53. > :05:57.shutdown, all because of a complex dramatic row with South Korea over a
:05:58. > :06:02.missile defence system -- diplomatic row. It is an ominous sign that
:06:03. > :06:06.China doesn't always need to take a chunk and tax to make its point.
:06:07. > :06:10.Finance leaders in the world's top economies are meeting in Germany
:06:11. > :06:15.this weekend. However, the trip will most likely not be a relaxing one.
:06:16. > :06:21.The us now has a president who believes trade should be fair, not
:06:22. > :06:24.free, at other G20 members are not interested in abandoning the path
:06:25. > :06:28.towards globalisation. So how will it all pan out? I asked a
:06:29. > :06:32.representative from the bank of Singapore. I think everybody is
:06:33. > :06:37.really talking about what on earth is the new American administration
:06:38. > :06:41.going to be doing? They seem to view trade as a zero-sum game and there
:06:42. > :06:45.seems to be a big change in policy, of the anti- protectionism which has
:06:46. > :06:49.been underpinning G20 statements for years. So much rhetoric over the
:06:50. > :06:52.past month and during the campaign period from Donald Trump,
:06:53. > :06:57.complaining about China, but still no concrete policy. Well, no
:06:58. > :07:00.policies yet, I think partly because they haven't had the people in
:07:01. > :07:07.place. You have had delayed confirmations. As they go in, his
:07:08. > :07:11.hands are free at to pursue a more aggressive approach towards China
:07:12. > :07:13.and he has been consistently hostile towards China throughout the
:07:14. > :07:17.campaign, as has his trade appointments. So you have to think
:07:18. > :07:21.something is going to be going on there. But during the National
:07:22. > :07:27.People's Congress you had the Premier, Li Keqiang, trying to be
:07:28. > :07:32.conciliatory with the US President, saying that China and the US have to
:07:33. > :07:41.create opportunities rather than trouble. Yes, they have been
:07:42. > :07:45.conciliatory. Mainly they realise they have the most to lose. It must
:07:46. > :07:49.be that Asia is vulnerable if America starts to put up the
:07:50. > :07:56.barriers. But what would you like to come out from that meeting of Mr Xi
:07:57. > :08:00.and Mr Trump in April? Do you think we are going to see both sides at
:08:01. > :08:05.loggerheads, or could we see some kind of reconciliation? Well, he
:08:06. > :08:11.seems to find it very easy to talk hard on his Twitter account, or to
:08:12. > :08:15.domestic audiences, but when he meets people he seems to have a
:08:16. > :08:18.personal warmth. It is very hard to predict what comes out of this. We
:08:19. > :08:21.haven't seen any flareups in the past few months. Admittedly he has
:08:22. > :08:25.mainly been focused on domestic policy rather than external
:08:26. > :08:31.policies, but so far there has been surprisingly little trouble. The
:08:32. > :08:38.British government has referred Rupert Murdoch's plan to take over
:08:39. > :08:46.Sky the regulators to decide if the deal is indeed in the public
:08:47. > :08:49.interest. Mr Murdoch's US television interest 21st Century Fox already
:08:50. > :08:53.owns a stake in Sky. Critics have expressed fears the deal would give
:08:54. > :09:00.Mr Murdoch too much control of the UK media. Japanese carmaker Toyota
:09:01. > :09:04.is investing nearly $300 million to upgrade its main facility located in
:09:05. > :09:07.central England and there will be additional investment from the
:09:08. > :09:15.government as well. My UK colleagues sent this report from the Toyota
:09:16. > :09:20.factory in Burnaston. Toyota will invest ?240 million to upgrade the
:09:21. > :09:23.Burnaston plant. In return the government is providing ?21 million
:09:24. > :09:27.for training and research. It is all good news for the 2500 workers at
:09:28. > :09:31.the site. The truth is, this plant needed to be upgraded simply to be
:09:32. > :09:37.able to compete with Toyota's plans around the world to build new cars.
:09:38. > :09:42.Now, they currently make cars here. A decision on whether to make a new
:09:43. > :09:46.vehicle at this plant is expected in the next year or two. This
:09:47. > :09:49.investment could make all the difference. But, as we leave the EU,
:09:50. > :09:53.all UK car manufacturers faced the prospect of higher cost, with
:09:54. > :09:57.tariffs on the components they import and on the cars they export.
:09:58. > :10:05.Despite assurances from the government, Nissan has warned it
:10:06. > :10:10.will re-evaluate its UK operations once the final Brexit deal is known.
:10:11. > :10:14.Let's have a quick look at the markets before we go. As you can
:10:15. > :10:19.see, a mixed bag for Asia. The Nikkei 225 down 55 points due to the
:10:20. > :10:23.strength of the Japanese yen against the US dollar -- 59 points. Hang
:10:24. > :10:28.Seng in the All Ordinaries also in positive territory. Have a great
:10:29. > :10:30.weekend, everyone. Sport Today is up next.