08/01/2018 Asia Business Report

Now on BBC News, all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

The stream of high-level Europeans

visiting China continues as French

President Macron comes calling on

Chinese president Xi. ARU filing for

divorce in India? Well, there it is

an app for that, find out how to

navigate the legal system online.

Welcome to Asia Business Report.

China appears to be the place to

visit among western leaders this

month. Last week the UK's trade

Secretary Ian Fox was in Beijing

laying the groundwork for a trade

agreement and now French President

Macron is on his first state visit

to Asia since his victory in the

election last year. Our reporter is

here with the latest.

That is right. It is an obvious

choice for President Macron. China

is the biggest economy in Asia.

There are reports already that

Airbus is in talks to sell 100

planes to China in a deal worth over

$10 billion. It is quite

interesting, because of what

President Macron has said in his New

Year is a statement, in which he has

urged the need for a stronger Europe

to face China. Let's have a listen.

TRANSLATION:

We need to be and more

sovereign, more united, more

democratic Europe. I deeply believe

Europe can become the economic,

social, environmentally friendly,

scientific power that will be able

to face China and the United States.

Well, of course, President Xi

Jinping wants to achieve the China

dream and France remains cautious of

its many financial and governance

pitfalls, but President Macron wants

Chinese investment and for China

after Brexit, France and Germany

likely to replace the UK and the

financial hub for the EU, so there

is a lot to talk about.

Thank you for that.

January eight is called "Divorce

day" because of a surge in request

from couples considering ending

their marriages after the holiday.

In India extended families have

given way to nuclear families in

urban areas and more women are

working, so there is less dependence

on their spouses for financial

security. And although divorce is on

the rise, the stigma remains. One

divorce lawyer in Mumbai is trying

to help.

When you have everything at the

press of an app, why not a lawyer? I

got married into a very wealthy

Indian family, and after one half

years of their marriage they decided

to file for a divorce. I had no idea

how to go about my life, and that is

when my journey started. Divorce

rates in India are increasing

manifold. About ten years ago, there

were only 20 matters on board in the

family Court in Mumbai. Today, when

you go, there are 60 to 70 matters

on each floor -- Family Court. And

we have seven floors.

Probably the smallest person you

have ever seen in your whole life. I

met five or six lawyers. With every

lawyer I had to pay them

consultation. For just the basic

thing, which is the divorce card.

Divorce in India is so stigmatised

that, you know, the petition

actually becomes like a human being

devouring every aspect of you,

socially you are ostracised,

financially you are broke.

With advanced technological as well

as financial changes that our

country is going through, divorce is

definitely here to stay. And I think

after four or five years that will

explode and that is where

information, counselling portals and

other portals like mine will become

very, very handy, because, you know,

we will be ahead of the curve.

Now, it looks like the future of

digital currency will stir

controversy in 2018. Facebook chief

executive Mark Zuckerberg said

recently he is trying to figure out

how the social media giant can use

cryptocurrency. At the same time the

US securities regulator is warning

investors of the risk in investing.

What are some of the top investors

in the world think? I spoke with one

international investor Jim Rogers

and asked him about his position.

I

have never bought one or sold one,

obviously. Of course I do. If it was

something that went up 2000 times,

of course I would regret I don't own

it. I do know that our money

problems are going to be solved by

the Internet. Whether it is Bitcoin

or not, I doubt it, because

government state like losing

control. But we will have Internet

money eventually. How it is going to

do it, maybe government will do it.

If you go to China, they don't have

money. If you want to buy a cup of

tea you put your phone down and you

own it. If you want to buy a car you

put your phone down and you own it.

It is astonishing. No one has money.

Technically, as you say, you need

regulation behind it. So would you

save Bitcoin is the resource you

would put your money into, versus

gold.

I own goals and I haven't sold

any gold. I am not buying gold but I

do own it. You have heard of IBM.

They did not invent the computer. He

didn't here of the company that

invented the computer. They are all

gone -- You didn't hear. Maybe it is

the American cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency will say, we are

smarter than the government. Of

course. But the government says,

this is the way it is going to be,

then be careful.

Jim Rogers speaking

to me about 2018.

Now, once cars are self driving, you

will be able to do something else

with your time, rather than dig your

eyes on the road. So what might you

get up to? That the international

Consumer Electronics Show in Las

Vegas, one company is creating an

electric car to compete with the

likes of Tesla. Our reporter Dave

Lee said it is essentially a

computer on wheels and he sent this

exclusive report.

The vision behind Byton is we want

to be the company bringing into the

market the first real smart car.

What we want to do is try to merge

your life outside of the car with

your experience in the car.

Everything will be controlled via

touch and then certain aspects of it

will be controlled via voice, and

also very novel to us is gesture

control.

The key is about customisation. When

you're in drive mode we will

actually disable certain features.

You won't be able to get into watch

videos, for instance. What we want

to try to build is a platform,

where, when there is a time of no

driving, all occupants in the car,

including the driver, have the

ability to interact.

Some of the most exciting features

of the Byton car will be disabled

until we live in a world of fully

autonomous driving, so perhaps think

of this vehicle as bridging the gap

between our dumb driving past and

our smart driving future.

We have to come together and share

this infrastructure across the

companies, because this is not a

differentiating factor, this is

something which makes the whole

industry succeed.

Sneak peek of the Byton car. In

other news, Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe wants the bank of Japan

governor to keep up efforts to

reflate the economy, how Heather he

is unclear if the man in charge

should stay in the job -- however.

He was handpicked in 2013 to

implement Abenomics, the stimulus

package meant to jumpstart the

economy. So far it has helped to

boost growth but it has failed to

drive up inflation to the bank's

target of 2%.

And let's have a quick look through

the markets before we go, because

here in Asia they're continuing to

make gains. Australia's flat but of

course it is at 10-year highs

because of gains we saw on Wall

Street last week. And that is it for

this edition of Asia