:00:09. > :00:20.This is business live with Victoria Fritz and Sally undock. Plans to
:00:21. > :00:23.overhaul its state-owned industries. Live from London, that is our top
:00:24. > :00:40.story today on Monday the 7th of March.
:00:41. > :00:46.China's chief economic planner is promising the country will not have
:00:47. > :00:49.a hard landing at its leaders unveiled their plans for the next
:00:50. > :00:56.five years, but analysts are warning the detail is scanned. Also in the
:00:57. > :01:01.programme, oil heading back towards $40 a barrel and big questions about
:01:02. > :01:04.energy asked in the UK, specifically about EDS nuclear plans at Hinkley
:01:05. > :01:09.Point. We will have the latest for you. And a downbeat start to the
:01:10. > :01:12.trading week in Europe. Pretty mixed at the moment. We will talk you
:01:13. > :01:17.through the winners and losers. Talk about the sharing economy -
:01:18. > :01:19.and you might imagine But the idea is quickly evolving -
:01:20. > :01:23.we'll be hearing from one start-up In the last half an hour,
:01:24. > :01:27.it has been confirmed that the Finance director EDF has
:01:28. > :01:29.resigned over the company's plan to build nuclear
:01:30. > :01:31.reactors in Britain. Where do you stand
:01:32. > :01:35.on nuclear energy? Is it the solution to our energy
:01:36. > :01:39.security and needs, or a waste Let us know of the stories
:01:40. > :02:06.that we're covering - Once again we start with China. And
:02:07. > :02:09.its admission it faces a difficult battle ahead.
:02:10. > :02:12.Those the words of Premier Li Keqiang at the nation's annual
:02:13. > :02:13.parliamentary meeting which began on Saturday,
:02:14. > :02:15.as he lowered China's growth target for the year.
:02:16. > :02:18.Beijing faces tough questions over its stewardship of the world's
:02:19. > :02:27.second largest economy and its financial markets.
:02:28. > :02:32.The new growth target for 2016 is between 6.5-7%.
:02:33. > :02:34.The International Monetary Fund expects just 6.3%
:02:35. > :02:42.But the country's chief economic planner said China
:02:43. > :02:46.China's 5-year plan included targets on energy consumption,
:02:47. > :02:54.job creation and inflation, but analysts say details are scant.
:02:55. > :02:59.And there was a promise to overhaul the bloated and inefficient state
:03:00. > :03:03.sector over the next 20 years, by bringing in the private sector
:03:04. > :03:08.to help run state-owned firms that dominate industries across banking,
:03:09. > :03:24.John Zhu is HSBC's China economist, he's in Hong Kong.
:03:25. > :03:33.Is China making more problems for its further down the line to meet
:03:34. > :03:37.these growth forecasts? Growth is important and I think the government
:03:38. > :03:41.is right to prioritise growth. Structurally China is never going to
:03:42. > :03:45.grow at the double digits on average that you have seen in the past 30
:03:46. > :03:49.years. On the other hand, it has to keep growth reasonably stable and
:03:50. > :03:55.keep growth holding up, because if it doesn't, it is going to cause all
:03:56. > :03:59.sorts of issues, such as deviation, bad debt and potentially down the
:04:00. > :04:06.line, disruption to the labour market. How much does deflation pose
:04:07. > :04:14.a risk to the Chinese economy? I think it is already a risk. In some
:04:15. > :04:20.nations China is already is in deflation. Producers profits are
:04:21. > :04:25.beginning to fall. In some ways policy should be looser, and that
:04:26. > :04:30.means cutting interest rates and also for the government to step up
:04:31. > :04:33.and take up some of the slack by increasing government spending and
:04:34. > :04:38.investment, otherwise what you have is potentially a downward spiral
:04:39. > :04:43.with lower and lower prices, lower profit and further increases in the
:04:44. > :04:48.debt burden. That is the situation surely you would want to avoid.
:04:49. > :04:53.Moody 's has been concerned about this and warning over what is going
:04:54. > :04:58.on with debt. I think debt to gross domestic product is something like
:04:59. > :05:05.245% in China. How much do debt levels like that concern you? It
:05:06. > :05:09.does look big, but for me debt is one side of the balance sheet. It
:05:10. > :05:13.should be balanced on the other side by the assets, which is what China
:05:14. > :05:16.is investing in. I think on the whole, over time, China is still
:05:17. > :05:21.investing in the right things and will make a decent return to match
:05:22. > :05:24.the debt. What is the problem is the financial system isn't really
:05:25. > :05:30.allocating people's savings, and China still saves more than it in
:05:31. > :05:38.vests, into an efficient way, such that it makes the investment is
:05:39. > :05:45.sustainable in the short run. I think the debt is a worry, but the
:05:46. > :05:50.key solution is to raise the ratio you mentioned, to bring GDP growth
:05:51. > :05:56.back up. We will leave it there but thank you for your time. Lots more
:05:57. > :05:58.on that story online, do take a look. Here is some more news to take
:05:59. > :06:01.in: The French energy giant,
:06:02. > :06:03.EDF has confirmed it's It's reported the resignation
:06:04. > :06:06.happened following a dispute over its plans to build
:06:07. > :06:08.two nuclear reactors It's thought Thomas Piquemal
:06:09. > :06:13.was concerned the ?18 billion project could put the company's
:06:14. > :06:16.future in jeopardy. EDF is 85% owned by
:06:17. > :06:26.the French government. Eurozone Finance ministers hold
:06:27. > :06:28.talks on economic reforms for Greece But there's mounting concern that
:06:29. > :06:31.Greece's third bailout, worth 86 billion euro,
:06:32. > :06:35.is headed for crisis. The EU and the International
:06:36. > :06:38.Monetary Fund are at loggerheads over the reform measures Athens must
:06:39. > :06:41.adopt for all parties to sign off The credit ratings agency Moody's
:06:42. > :06:47.has put Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
:06:48. > :06:49.Kuwait and Qatar on review It also cut Bahrain's sovereign
:06:50. > :07:06.rating to junk late last week - ALTHOUGH THE PRICE OF OIL IS HEADED
:07:07. > :07:13.HIGHER. YES, IT IS AT THE MOMENT. A QUICK
:07:14. > :07:21.LOOK AT THE TABLET. I THINK WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THAT IN A MOMENT,
:07:22. > :07:26.$40 A BARREL. A little more news on EDF, shares down 8% in early trade
:07:27. > :07:37.following the resignation of the chief financial officer. Hinkley
:07:38. > :07:44.Point, we are expecting some announcement perhaps in the next few
:07:45. > :07:45.weeks and months. Let's now concentrate on another
:07:46. > :07:47.story coming out of Asia. We have been hearing about economic
:07:48. > :07:50.uncertainty in China and that's just one of the problems facing property
:07:51. > :07:52.investors in Hong Kong. Home sales there fell by a whopping
:07:53. > :08:11.70% in February from a year earlier Nice to see you. Why such an
:08:12. > :08:15.enormous drop last month? There are a lot of people looking at
:08:16. > :08:20.the figures on asking that same question. Sales in January and
:08:21. > :08:26.February said to be the lowest on record. And the lowest since 2008-
:08:27. > :08:34.09 financial crisis. It is tempting to link this to the slowdown in
:08:35. > :08:39.China but analysts say the reason is that is one factor, but they also
:08:40. > :08:43.point out that people wanting to buy property in Hong Kong now face a lot
:08:44. > :08:47.of restrictions. Very high stamp duty, they have to come up with
:08:48. > :08:50.substantial down payment and they are worried interest rates might
:08:51. > :08:56.increase. The government is also boosting housing supply in Hong Kong
:08:57. > :09:00.which is pushing down prices. But the property markets are being very
:09:01. > :09:05.closely watched everywhere as china's economy continues to slow.
:09:06. > :09:07.The economic uncertainty is putting some people off buying. Thank you
:09:08. > :09:17.very much. Markets across Asia had a lot to
:09:18. > :09:21.react to today. Job numbers coming through stronger and better than
:09:22. > :09:26.expected in the United States, and also reacting to all the news coming
:09:27. > :09:31.out of China and about poor economic news from Hong Kong. A mixed day in
:09:32. > :09:34.Asia. Let's have a look at how Europe is faring. Because whilst
:09:35. > :09:39.that is going on we have markets looking ahead to the European
:09:40. > :09:47.Central Bank meeting this week. What will they decide? And the oil price
:09:48. > :09:51.heading higher. Commodities headed higher as well. A flat beginning to
:09:52. > :09:55.the week for Europe. A lot on people's minds. We will discuss in
:09:56. > :10:02.more detail in just the moment but first a look ahead to the day ahead
:10:03. > :10:06.on Wall Street with Michelle. One of America's leading sellers of
:10:07. > :10:11.vinyl records also sells cassette tape. At this point you might be
:10:12. > :10:15.wondering what I'm going on about. The company has enjoyed strong sales
:10:16. > :10:17.over the last few quarters and investors are wondering whether or
:10:18. > :10:21.not it will be able to maintain that momentum when it reports
:10:22. > :10:26.fourth-quarter profits late on Monday. That brings me back to those
:10:27. > :10:31.cassette tapes, all parts of the retailer 's efforts to appeal to all
:10:32. > :10:34.generations. The head of the Federal reserve's next policy meeting, watch
:10:35. > :10:39.out for speeches on this mandate from the vice-chair and Governor.
:10:40. > :10:43.Wall Street will be listening closely for clues. Do they think the
:10:44. > :10:46.US economy is strong enough for it to continue on its path of rate
:10:47. > :10:49.hikes? Joining us is Manji Cheto,
:10:50. > :10:59.Africa analyst at Teneo Good morning. We are talking about
:11:00. > :11:04.oil prices, one of the things moving some of the market, or it has been
:11:05. > :11:10.at the start of this year. We have Brent crude flirting at $40 a barrel
:11:11. > :11:15.mark. From where you stand as an Africa analyst, it has such crucial
:11:16. > :11:21.impact with the African economy. As with anyone who is exporting with
:11:22. > :11:24.what is going on with the oil price? Yes, for a lot of oil producers this
:11:25. > :11:30.is good news. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how long we are going to look
:11:31. > :11:35.at that 40 or if it will hit the $40 a barrel mark. If you look at the
:11:36. > :11:39.predictions from analyst at the beginning of the year, they were
:11:40. > :11:43.predicting about $60 per barrel. At that point I am not sure we will get
:11:44. > :11:47.there. 40 might be the best we get this year. But a lot of oil
:11:48. > :11:55.producers will be hoping... It is hard to see what will push up those
:11:56. > :11:59.pressures. Even if we have a lot of people in political instability, I
:12:00. > :12:04.cannot see what kicks it up. Commodities for now headed higher,
:12:05. > :12:08.which is giving everyone a breather. But let's think of the other events
:12:09. > :12:15.this week, the ECB meeting, quite big in people's thinking. And China
:12:16. > :12:18.digestible venues and the US jobs data which came out on Friday, still
:12:19. > :12:23.thinking about that, with the whole global economy and our thinking,
:12:24. > :12:28.give us your thoughts? One of the interesting things this year,
:12:29. > :12:32.economic sin bin bad, but political risk has been the biggest headline
:12:33. > :12:36.risk for many people. That is much harder to predict. I think a lot of
:12:37. > :12:40.the volatility we are seeing is largely driven by political
:12:41. > :12:46.instability and policy uncertainty. Be more specific about political
:12:47. > :12:55.instability. I should clarify that more and say political uncertainty,
:12:56. > :12:59.it is... The ECB, it is hard to look at decisions based on numbers, it is
:13:00. > :13:05.based on the political will and what the political will is across the
:13:06. > :13:11.euro zone. Policy uncertainty coming out of oh pack, nobody trusts they
:13:12. > :13:16.have got control over the oil prices any more. For me it is political
:13:17. > :13:20.uncertainty that is driving the volatility in the markets more than
:13:21. > :13:24.the fundamentals. Focusing specifically on the ECB. There has
:13:25. > :13:28.been a lot of uncertainty about what measures would be announced. The
:13:29. > :13:33.markets disappointed last time, they are expecting we will get some more
:13:34. > :13:38.easing this week. But is it actually working? Every time it comes to the
:13:39. > :13:42.markets people seem to be disappointed with Mario Draghi. I
:13:43. > :13:47.think that will happen again. It doesn't matter what he does. It is
:13:48. > :13:52.not going to be enough. From that perspective, I think people are
:13:53. > :13:56.already expecting that. If we do get some kind of this post US, it is not
:13:57. > :14:01.going to be enough to calm the markets. I think you could get some
:14:02. > :14:05.calm in a day or two, after that we will have the same level of
:14:06. > :14:10.volatility. Paul Mario Draghi, a thankless job he has at the moment.
:14:11. > :14:13.Wouldn't want to be in his shoes factory we will see you soon, and
:14:14. > :14:21.about five minutes time. Still to come: can you outsource your sales
:14:22. > :14:35.staff? First more on the decision of the
:14:36. > :14:41.finance chief at the EDF. It confirmed the director has quit over
:14:42. > :14:42.the phone's plan to build the first nuclear power plant in the UK in
:14:43. > :14:44.decades. Thomas Piquemal stepped down
:14:45. > :14:46.because he feared the project could Joe Lynam has been
:14:47. > :15:03.following the story. much do you think the governments
:15:04. > :15:06.are to blame for EDF being in the predicament it finds itself today?
:15:07. > :15:11.President Hollande of France and David Cameron, the Prime Minister,
:15:12. > :15:18.met in France and reiterated that the Hinkley Point project was going
:15:19. > :15:20.to be a pillar for future by lateral agreements between the two
:15:21. > :15:29.countries. This is a major investment. ?18 billion in Hinkley
:15:30. > :15:34.Point in Somerset to build a new generation of power plants. The
:15:35. > :15:43.costs supersede the value of EDF's market capitalisation. So for EDF,
:15:44. > :15:52.it is looking like a serious project. The resignation suggests
:15:53. > :15:56.that if you cannot afford to build this project, are you going to
:15:57. > :16:00.proceed and risk the company? Maybe he couldn't put his name to the
:16:01. > :16:06.proceeding with this investment, if it was going to be a risk. They are
:16:07. > :16:10.borrowing to pay dividends at EDF, the share price collapsed around 60%
:16:11. > :16:13.in the last year or so and there is a question mark whether the funding
:16:14. > :16:16.to build the project, a third of which will come from a Chinese
:16:17. > :16:20.company, whether that is going to be forthcoming. It looks as if the
:16:21. > :16:25.political masters decided this is going to go ahead, irrespective of
:16:26. > :16:30.what the maths says. Joe, we're going to leave it there, thank you
:16:31. > :16:35.very much. I'm sure that will be big news throughout the day. Shares down
:16:36. > :16:40.8% at the moment over at EDF. Metro Bank, you are able to trade
:16:41. > :16:49.the shares today, or at least institutions can boy and sell shares
:16:50. > :16:54.today in Met fro Bank. Shares are up over 8.5% so the CEO was one of our
:16:55. > :17:02.guest on Inside Track on Business Live.
:17:03. > :17:10.Hello. You're with Business Live. China's chief economic planner is
:17:11. > :17:14.promising the country won't is a a hard landing. The leaders unveiled
:17:15. > :17:17.their plans for the next five years, but analysts are warning the detail
:17:18. > :17:22.is scant. Lots of detail online. Take a look and dig in deep, but
:17:23. > :17:24.let's get the Inside Track on one of the newest start-ups venturing into
:17:25. > :17:29.the so-called sharing economy. Closing a deal is the cornerstone
:17:30. > :17:31.of any successful business, but is this something
:17:32. > :17:33.that can be outsourced? Clozer was founded last year
:17:34. > :17:36.by Amy Bloomer and describes itself The platform connects businesses
:17:37. > :17:42.with on-demand salespeople, reducing Given that "Clozers" are employed
:17:43. > :18:02.on a short-term basis, companies can use the service
:18:03. > :18:04.to meet peak-time demand. CLOZER can also be used to help
:18:05. > :18:07.businesses expand internationally as the platform gives access
:18:08. > :18:09.to sales teams all around the world. Ami Bloomer, chief executive
:18:10. > :18:14.of Clozer joins us now. Thank you very much for coming in.
:18:15. > :18:18.This is clearly a fantastic idea so long as your salespeople are good at
:18:19. > :18:23.actually selling things. I believe you've got 83,000 of them. How can
:18:24. > :18:28.you check they are all possibly good at doing their jobs? I think most
:18:29. > :18:32.importantly 8% of sales close 80% of deals. There is a sub set of people
:18:33. > :18:36.that are just extremely good salespeople. What we do is verify
:18:37. > :18:43.these people have actually closed deals and produce that information
:18:44. > :18:47.back to the clunt. The most verified and reviewed the closure is, the
:18:48. > :18:51.more money they make on the platform. Can you choose if you were
:18:52. > :18:58.a business look to go sign up to this? Can you choose the Clozer you
:18:59. > :19:01.get? Of course. Each Clozer is rankted and reviewed. So it is
:19:02. > :19:04.matched by your industry. You're not going to send somebody to a biotech
:19:05. > :19:09.sales meeting who is selling finance products. It is not going to work.
:19:10. > :19:13.In a sense, you know, it is matched, but you have to interview them. They
:19:14. > :19:18.don't represent your business until you say, "OK, I feel really happy
:19:19. > :19:22.with Amy." Or whoever. Zl this idea came to you after a trip to cold
:19:23. > :19:27.beeia where you find it very difficult to sell anything? Yeah,
:19:28. > :19:32.the genesis is five years old, when I was 25, I started my first company
:19:33. > :19:37.on a credit card. My first client I signed over the phone and it was
:19:38. > :19:41.Pfizer, when I signed them, I thought Pfizer are doing business
:19:42. > :19:45.from me, but because I was selling a learning product, I was 25, all the
:19:46. > :19:51.enterprise clients I went to, the door was closed. My first hire was a
:19:52. > :19:57.grey haired man and he sold every daesmt when I found myself in couple
:19:58. > :20:02.beeia, it was extremely difficult to be there as a woman who is white,
:20:03. > :20:08.President Hollande, doesn't speak Spanish, trying to do business with
:20:09. > :20:12.Columbian men, I spent days trying it get my deals to close, but the
:20:13. > :20:16.cultural differences were the thing that held me back and the fact that
:20:17. > :20:21.people buy from people and I think when we forget that in business, we
:20:22. > :20:26.do ourselves a disservice. And all the stuff around women in business
:20:27. > :20:29.and everything, it is you know, I'm really supporting women in business,
:20:30. > :20:34.but there are some things we know from the platform that HR directors
:20:35. > :20:37.buy typically from men over 40. So if you know that, send a man over
:20:38. > :20:44.40. But your company is very much a
:20:45. > :20:49.product of our age, isn't? You're calling it a disruptive player in
:20:50. > :20:53.this market, but presumably, all the Clozer s that you've got on your
:20:54. > :20:58.website are self-employed, individuals. So virtually freelance
:20:59. > :21:02.in a sense? Freelancers, yes. How long do you think you're going to
:21:03. > :21:05.stick around with that model? Do they want to stay in that place as
:21:06. > :21:10.an individual or perhaps they will want to go and sort of start a
:21:11. > :21:15.career path, corporately where they're going to get the fringes and
:21:16. > :21:22.benefits that you get when you're not self-employed? The advantage to
:21:23. > :21:26.being a Clozer rather than being in an institution, the market sets your
:21:27. > :21:33.rate. If you're closing a lot of table, you're the table earning $150
:21:34. > :21:40.an hour, now, now your employer can't give you. The flexibility
:21:41. > :21:44.really attracts Clozer s because I could go to Thailand and work on
:21:45. > :21:52.deals there if I had a certain experience. People want a flexy, job
:21:53. > :21:57.that they can do and get paid for it at market rate.
:21:58. > :22:00.So much more to discuss. As always, Amy, thank you so much. Really
:22:01. > :22:04.interesting and this business is just only about five months old so
:22:05. > :22:18.we will keep an eye on it and I'm sure we will have you back.
:22:19. > :22:22.The man who is said to have invented e-mails,
:22:23. > :22:27.He came up with the idea of sending electronic messages in 1971,
:22:28. > :22:29.and he's been credited for introducing the @ symbol as part
:22:30. > :22:32.Our North America Technology Reporter, Dave Lee explains
:22:33. > :22:34.Ray Tomlinson's role in developing the revolutionary technology.
:22:35. > :22:37.Ray Tomlinson was working on a piece of software called ARPANET,
:22:38. > :22:40.which was one of the early foundations of the Internet.
:22:41. > :22:43.What he was working on was the ability to send messages
:22:44. > :22:57.He did this, in the first instance, from a computer that was ten-feet
:22:58. > :23:01.So the first e-mail was fairly anti-climactic in a way.
:23:02. > :23:04.He says he has forgotten what was exactly in that e-mail.
:23:05. > :23:06.He couldn't even tell us that, unfortunately, but certainly
:23:07. > :23:09.a momentous thing in the history of the Internet and the history
:23:10. > :23:10.of how we communicate with each other.
:23:11. > :23:13.There are now 100 billion e-mails sent every day,
:23:14. > :23:16.so it all started from that one e-mail to a computer ten feet away
:23:17. > :23:26.The lovely Dave Lee who you can follow online. He is wuven our
:23:27. > :23:31.technology team in San Fran. We asked you whether you thought
:23:32. > :23:36.nuclear energy was worth the time, the energy and the money? Some of
:23:37. > :23:40.you got in touch, we have got a viewer saying, "Well, Canada has
:23:41. > :23:48.almost 40% of its energy on nuclear? Why not? It is positive." Another
:23:49. > :23:52.viewer says, "Nuclear is the way backward. Renewable energy is more
:23:53. > :23:56.sustainable, beneficial and minimises impact. He says the gains
:23:57. > :23:57.are worth the costs. Thank you for sending in your thoughts. Stay in
:23:58. > :24:05.touch with us. Manji Cheto, Africa analyst
:24:06. > :24:26.at Teneo Intelligence is joining us The billionaire businessman who has
:24:27. > :24:30.been sentenced to death. This is coming off the back of people
:24:31. > :24:35.expecting Iran to come back into the markets. It is a reflection of the
:24:36. > :24:40.fact that the Iranians want to say they're dealing with the operational
:24:41. > :24:48.issues and corruption tends to be a big issue in oil producing States.
:24:49. > :24:53.Clearly, he is not Iranian. He is a western businessman, just fill us
:24:54. > :24:59.in. I haven't seen the detail on this? He is British Iranian. So I
:25:00. > :25:02.think, this is clearly, the Iranians trying to send a message, if your
:25:03. > :25:08.people want to come into our country, if they want to operate we
:25:09. > :25:10.expect them to still honour an Islamic Republic and whether or not
:25:11. > :25:14.people will feel can have didn't about this and this is really
:25:15. > :25:19.tackling corruption, you know, I think a lot of people will kind of
:25:20. > :25:24.sit on the fence on that one. We have got one more that we are going
:25:25. > :25:29.to try and do quickly this. Is in the Wall Street Journal. They have
:25:30. > :25:33.this population, this demographic timebomb that we are seeing across
:25:34. > :25:38.the developed world? For me, it is interesting. I cover markets where
:25:39. > :25:42.it is the opposite. We actually have an incredibly large youth population
:25:43. > :25:46.in Africa. I think, you know, unfortunately the pensions issue in
:25:47. > :25:50.Europe, nobody ever says we need to tackle this right now and
:25:51. > :25:53.unfortunately, I just think, you know, politicians won't allow this
:25:54. > :25:57.to get to the point where we can't actually solve it anymore. Thank
:25:58. > :26:02.you. That's often the case. The tin can kicked down the road. You're
:26:03. > :26:08.with Business Live. We will see you tomorrow.