:00:00. > :00:08.This is Business Live from BBC News with Maryam Moshiri
:00:09. > :00:19.The world's 2nd largest economy is making less and buying less.
:00:20. > :00:21.And all of that will have an impact on you.
:00:22. > :00:24.Live from London, that's our top story
:00:25. > :00:47.China's slowdown has already sparked a fall in commodity prices.
:00:48. > :00:50.We'll be live in Shanghai to find out what it will take
:00:51. > :00:55.Also in the programme, Google under the spotlight.
:00:56. > :00:56.South Korea launches an anti-trade investigation.
:00:57. > :01:00.Our Asia business hub will bring us the latest.
:01:01. > :01:08.I wanted to put all the American markets together, a record high,
:01:09. > :01:10.they are partying like it is 1999, because that is the last time that
:01:11. > :01:17.happened. we'll be finding out how a computer
:01:18. > :01:21.outage grounded Delta We'll have our very own
:01:22. > :01:24.Rory Cellan-Jones here - looking at the technology
:01:25. > :01:26.stories of the week. Today we want to know as US
:01:27. > :01:28.department store Macys announces it's closing 100 stores as it's hit
:01:29. > :01:31.by online retailers, Are you well and truly over getting
:01:32. > :01:37.up and going into stores or do you still like the high
:01:38. > :01:39.street retail experience? Plenty going on. We do have the
:01:40. > :01:59.Friday feeling. We start in China -
:02:00. > :02:02.where in the last couple of hours we've had an update about the health
:02:03. > :02:05.of the world's second Those numbers have come
:02:06. > :02:08.in weaker than expected - undermining hopes that the great
:02:09. > :02:10.slowdown is at last We'll get to them in a moment -
:02:11. > :02:15.but let's just remind ourselves Last year the Chinese economy grew
:02:16. > :02:28.at this rate - 6.9%. That was the weakest growth China
:02:29. > :02:30.has seen in 25 years. This year - so far -
:02:31. > :02:32.it's even weaker. In the six months to the end of June
:02:33. > :02:36.growth has slipped to just 6.7%. The fear has been that this
:02:37. > :02:38.slowdown is getting worse - and that the figure
:02:39. > :02:41.could be far lower by We've just had the latest
:02:42. > :02:44.numbers from China's Industrial production was up 6%
:02:45. > :02:52.year on year in July. That's weaker than the 6.2% in June
:02:53. > :03:09.- it was expected to be the same. We were expecting the same but
:03:10. > :03:14.didn't get it. Beijing is making great efforts to shift the economy
:03:15. > :03:16.from the floor of the factory to one which is more consumer driven,
:03:17. > :03:23.getting the Chinese people to spend. But on that front -
:03:24. > :03:25.retail sales for July That's down from 10.6% in June -
:03:26. > :03:33.and again lower than expected. And investment by firms was up 8.1%
:03:34. > :03:36.in the seven months to July - that is also a lot lower
:03:37. > :03:51.than expected We can go to our reporter, more
:03:52. > :03:58.evidence of a slowdown? Yes, the last figure just mentioned is the
:03:59. > :04:01.one that will worry people, investment in factories is a
:04:02. > :04:05.barometer of how confident the Chinese business people feel about
:04:06. > :04:14.the future, and these figures are not just about the state of the
:04:15. > :04:18.economy, but also they reveal the sentiment going forward, and it is
:04:19. > :04:22.not good. The most significant sign of a slowdown is in investment in
:04:23. > :04:27.factories and we can take that as a sign that the Chinese business
:04:28. > :04:31.community which a sling to the government do not feel good about
:04:32. > :04:36.the confidence in terms of the Chinese economy -- which is linked
:04:37. > :04:42.to the government. And also global demand. Any signs of panic within
:04:43. > :04:48.the economy and also in terms of the real economy, how is this affecting
:04:49. > :04:51.Chinese people? We have heard from one official, not a senior official,
:04:52. > :04:59.but a man Abbey National statistics bureau who spoke to the media -- at
:05:00. > :05:02.the National. He said the trend remains good, that is the message
:05:03. > :05:09.from the officials, China is moving towards a massive change, trying to
:05:10. > :05:12.move away from global trade and a reliance on government investment
:05:13. > :05:18.and moving towards domestic consumption, and big lay-offs are
:05:19. > :05:24.expected in the steel industry and the coal industry and that will take
:05:25. > :05:27.a long time. That remains the focus of the Chinese economy, but there is
:05:28. > :05:34.also a new normal, to quote the Chinese president, and acceptance of
:05:35. > :05:39.the slowing economy. They cannot maintain double-digit growth, and
:05:40. > :05:47.what they want is stability. I want to ask you, and I'm enjoying that
:05:48. > :05:54.backdrop, by the way. People watching this, going, China, 6.7%,
:05:55. > :05:58.many countries would give their right arm for that kind of growth,
:05:59. > :06:08.can you explain why China needs that kind of growth, six and 7%? It wants
:06:09. > :06:12.to get richer and to continue the effort to continue to move tens of
:06:13. > :06:17.millions of people in this country out of poverty and move them from
:06:18. > :06:23.the country to the cities. The only way it can continue to do that is to
:06:24. > :06:31.have wealth and an economy which grows at rates which people, many
:06:32. > :06:36.people, would look on with envy, and it would like to maintain something
:06:37. > :06:39.around 6% if it is to continue on this massive effort to increase
:06:40. > :06:45.wealth in this country and make China a richer country. There's also
:06:46. > :06:52.politics. The politicians from the President down, they state what the
:06:53. > :06:57.ambition will be and low and behold they tend to stick to that, and 6%
:06:58. > :07:01.is where we are for this year and that will be humiliating for the
:07:02. > :07:09.president and the premiers they do not manage to maintain that. --
:07:10. > :07:13.Premier if they do not. Thanks for joining us.
:07:14. > :07:17.German economic growth slowed less than expected in the second quarter.
:07:18. > :07:20.Europe's biggest economy grew by 0.4% between April and June -
:07:21. > :07:28.That was slower than the 0.7% growth it saw in the first
:07:29. > :07:31.But it was double the rate economists were expecting.
:07:32. > :07:34.Growth was boosted by higher exports and strong government and consumer
:07:35. > :07:39.A new online campaign is urging fast food giant McDonald's to impose
:07:40. > :07:44.a global ban on products from animals treated
:07:45. > :07:53.Scientists warn that treating livestock with antibiotics
:07:54. > :07:56.will lead to a rise in drug-resistant superbugs.
:07:57. > :07:58.The charity ShareAction has called on consumers to email McDonald's
:07:59. > :08:01.Last week, the fast food chain stopped using poultry
:08:02. > :08:05.treated with antibiotics - but only in its US restaurants.
:08:06. > :08:27.You like a bit of antibiotics with your meat? Excavation
:08:28. > :08:39.we have a good story here. Yes, great. If you have a tablet you have
:08:40. > :08:47.got to do it, that is how the show works. The markets are up at the
:08:48. > :08:55.moment. People pile money into gold, don't they? Yes, when they are
:08:56. > :09:00.worried about the global economy. We'll gold still be trading between
:09:01. > :09:04.sellers? -- will. More headaches for the internet
:09:05. > :09:10.search giant Google this morning. It's already been fined $6.8 million
:09:11. > :09:13.in Russia this week for competition violations, it now faces
:09:14. > :09:16.a new regulatory probe from South The country's antitrust watchdog
:09:17. > :09:20.is opening a investigation into whether the company violated
:09:21. > :09:22.it's anti-competition laws. Leesha Chee is looking into it
:09:23. > :09:36.for us in Singapore. What is the story? The authorities
:09:37. > :09:40.in Korea have not released many details aside from the fact that it
:09:41. > :09:43.has to do with anti-trust violations, but local media are
:09:44. > :09:49.saying it has to do with Google's advertising policy. This is the
:09:50. > :09:53.second time that Korea is looking into Google for anti-competitive
:09:54. > :09:59.behaviour. In 2013 Google was accused of forcing smartphone makers
:10:00. > :10:05.of using its android software to preload its search engine. It was
:10:06. > :10:08.cleared of that, but this is one of several battles that Google is
:10:09. > :10:12.facing globally. You mentioned the case in Russia, but they are also
:10:13. > :10:22.looking in the European Union to other anti-trust issues. $7 million
:10:23. > :10:26.fine in Russia, that is a drop in the bucket for Google, because they
:10:27. > :10:36.make $75 billion in revenue last year alone. Yes, no worries, have a
:10:37. > :10:41.great weekend. We can stay with the markets, it is a party time, the
:10:42. > :10:47.markets are partying like they haven't done since 1999, the three
:10:48. > :10:55.US markets all reached record highs at the same time. That has had a
:10:56. > :11:09.follow-on effect throughout Asia. There was a blip in the oil price.
:11:10. > :11:19.There won't be two rate rises this year. Investors are looking for a
:11:20. > :11:19.terms on their money. -- looking for returns.
:11:20. > :11:22.Now let's head to New York where Samira Hussain can tell us
:11:23. > :11:31.Economists expect that sales will have increased for the four skin
:11:32. > :11:36.sect of months, it is a sign that consumers are continuing to spend --
:11:37. > :11:42.fourth consecutive month. Two thirds of the US economy depends on
:11:43. > :11:51.consumer spending, and speaking of retail, department store Hemmings
:11:52. > :11:55.will be reporting on their figures, Macy's reported strong sales figures
:11:56. > :11:59.because of warm weather in June and July and healthy consumer spending,
:12:00. > :12:05.and analysts are expecting the same from JCPenney. Also helping will be
:12:06. > :12:16.the introduction of appliances as a retail category. We are joined by
:12:17. > :12:22.the UK equities manager. US stock markets doing very well, is there an
:12:23. > :12:30.element of it being quite quiet? Lighter trading volume? It is people
:12:31. > :12:37.looking for somewhere to put their money, quiet trading periods do lead
:12:38. > :12:42.to more volatility and bigger price movements are the up and the
:12:43. > :12:49.downside. Authorities have proved to be able to ease people's confidence
:12:50. > :12:58.and the interest rate rises that were spoken about by the Fed, just
:12:59. > :13:02.not happening. We are talking about fiscal stimulus in Japan and Canada,
:13:03. > :13:07.and the UK. Possibly in the United States. That has given people
:13:08. > :13:13.confidence and has pushed down rates elsewhere. Or that stimulus, getting
:13:14. > :13:23.through the crisis years, which we have seen -- tall that stimulus. It
:13:24. > :13:27.is supposed to get Mary Smith and Joe blogs into the economy, but it
:13:28. > :13:33.ends up in the market. Some of this money is ending up back in Wall
:13:34. > :13:41.Street? People are not able to get much of a return on bonds and the
:13:42. > :13:44.yields have come down. The same in terms of bank deposits, you are
:13:45. > :13:48.getting next to nothing, and some places you are being charged for it.
:13:49. > :13:56.Some of the money is looking for homes. All these distortions can
:13:57. > :14:02.provide travel further down the line. You are going to take us
:14:03. > :14:05.through the papers? Still to come, more than 2000 flights cancelled.
:14:06. > :14:07.We'll be finding out how a computer outage grounded Delta
:14:08. > :14:11.We'll have our very own Rory Cellan-Jones looking at
:14:12. > :14:16.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:14:17. > :14:18.The first of four strikes by staff at Eurostar began
:14:19. > :14:26.They're walking out in a dispute over members' work-life balance.
:14:27. > :14:35.Victoria Fritz is at St Pancras station for us this morning.
:14:36. > :14:43.What is a worklife balance? Many people at the BBC don't get it. We
:14:44. > :14:47.have been asking the same question this morning. Good morning to you
:14:48. > :14:55.both, I hope you are behaving yourself.
:14:56. > :15:03.There will be eight trains cancelled over the next four days. This is
:15:04. > :15:08.part of the work life balance for people working on the Eurostar. Only
:15:09. > :15:11.8% of trains will be affected over the four days. It means the terminal
:15:12. > :15:18.at the moment will be running pretty smoothly. Eurostar says tickets are
:15:19. > :15:23.still available on all routes. We have talked about work- life
:15:24. > :15:32.balance, what is the problem? Members of finding intolerable and
:15:33. > :15:35.increase in hours. They are not getting the same package as
:15:36. > :15:38.counterparts in France and Belgium. We want an agreement with a company
:15:39. > :15:43.and are determined to get one. Members have told us they want to
:15:44. > :15:46.take industrial action. It has brought matters firmly to the
:15:47. > :15:52.attention of the company and hope we can start on an agreement we can all
:15:53. > :15:58.support. We would all like a better work-life balance does is it really
:15:59. > :16:02.necessary to start now, in the middle of the summer? Absolutely.
:16:03. > :16:09.The timetables on the row a change in September. We have one window in
:16:10. > :16:13.which to get the changes we need. -- on the railway. The company will not
:16:14. > :16:17.focus on this issue unless we take these measures. Hopefully they will
:16:18. > :16:19.come to their senses and make a straightforward agreement and we can
:16:20. > :16:25.all get back to normal working patterns. I will let you go. I know
:16:26. > :16:30.you have that meeting happening in about 15 minutes. It is possible we
:16:31. > :16:34.might see some of the strike action actually stand down over the next
:16:35. > :16:39.bidets and also the strikes that are at the moment scheduled for the
:16:40. > :16:44.August bank holiday as well. -- the next few days. Trains to Paris and
:16:45. > :16:54.Brussels will be affected over the next few days.
:16:55. > :16:59.Our top story: There's been more evidence of the slowdown in China.
:17:00. > :17:02.Latest figures show the world's second biggest economy is making
:17:03. > :17:10.A quick look at how markets are faring.
:17:11. > :17:18.We have been talking a lot about the markets. Wall Street had a cracking
:17:19. > :17:26.day yesterday. What are you doing? I do not have control of the markets.
:17:27. > :17:28.We cannot show them. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq and SN to be all up at record
:17:29. > :17:35.highs. They did well, like me! Hundreds of thousands of passengers
:17:36. > :17:37.faced transport chaos this week after a technical glitch
:17:38. > :17:43.at Delta Airlines in the US grounded Its chief executive has apologised
:17:44. > :17:46.for the computer meltdown - saying he knew the company needed
:17:47. > :17:49.to make technological investments - but that he didn't think it had this
:17:50. > :17:52.kind of vulnerability. As well as Delta,
:17:53. > :17:57.Tesla has also been in the technology headlines this
:17:58. > :18:03.week after one of its cars crashed while in autopilot mode -
:18:04. > :18:07.this time in China. Rory Cellan-Jones is our
:18:08. > :18:24.technology correspondent. This airline has 809 aircraft. On
:18:25. > :18:33.that date, the scheduled flights were almost 3300. Chaos. What has,
:18:34. > :18:38.since has been far from reassuring. On the day, all they said
:18:39. > :18:41.immediately was, the computer system has gone down worldwide. Very little
:18:42. > :18:48.details for that then they said it was due to a power cut at the
:18:49. > :18:52.Atlanta headquarters. The Atlanta control centre, this vast control
:18:53. > :18:56.centre. People were asking why they did not have a back-up. IT experts
:18:57. > :19:02.said, why does a company in this modern age have a single point of
:19:03. > :19:06.failure? More details coming out about this buyer at the data centre.
:19:07. > :19:12.They revealed there was a fire at the data centre. -- this fire. It
:19:13. > :19:17.was revealed it was such a small fire they did not even call out the
:19:18. > :19:23.fire brigade. It seems, in some ways, putting out the fire may have
:19:24. > :19:30.caused further problems. Why did they not use traffic Manager? There
:19:31. > :19:35.is a history here. Organisations which have had technology for a long
:19:36. > :19:44.time, they have legacy systems. They have invested far more in the past
:19:45. > :19:50.in technology ban now. They need a second wave of investment. -- van
:19:51. > :20:00.now. They're all being a bit shy. If you set up a modern business now...
:20:01. > :20:07.You don't order to run your own service. You hire a big cloud
:20:08. > :20:11.computing company. There is redundancy. You have a data centre
:20:12. > :20:17.in Atlanta but maybe another one in Europe to switch to have something
:20:18. > :20:25.goes wrong. It costs a pretty penny. I do not know how much time we have.
:20:26. > :20:29.Ad blocking. Some people say, what is this about? This is a huge story
:20:30. > :20:33.across the internet anyone trying to make money on the internet is
:20:34. > :20:40.massively reliant on adverts. More more people are using ad blockers to
:20:41. > :20:43.prevent themselves seeing adverts they find increasingly annoying. The
:20:44. > :20:49.content companies, the media companies when you rely on money for
:20:50. > :20:57.that, are fighting back. They have a big ally in Facebook, who up until
:20:58. > :21:03.now has not said much. It is about on desktop sites. Not on mobiles and
:21:04. > :21:08.tablets where most people see them because ad blockers are not very
:21:09. > :21:13.effective on them as yet. But they are effective on the desktop. That
:21:14. > :21:16.has got lots of media companies really angry. Facebook now has
:21:17. > :21:22.joined them and acted against them. There is a bit of a war going on.
:21:23. > :21:29.The biggest ad blocker has already said it has found a way around
:21:30. > :21:32.Facebook's ad blocking. Facebook has come back and said, we have found a
:21:33. > :21:44.way around their way around. A bit of a battle. Very briefly, Tesla had
:21:45. > :21:48.that accident. I do not think there was an accident involved in this
:21:49. > :21:53.accident in China. The fact it was in China, someone has made a big
:21:54. > :22:00.complaint. They had an accident when the autopilot system was on. They
:22:01. > :22:07.admitted their hands were not on or near the wheel. The advice from
:22:08. > :22:15.Tesla, even when you have it switched on when your hands should
:22:16. > :22:16.be poised over the wheel. I am sure we will be hearing more about that
:22:17. > :22:25.story in time. Thank you. In a moment, we'll take a look
:22:26. > :22:28.through the Business Pages but first here's a quick reminder of how
:22:29. > :22:35.to get in touch with us. Stay ahead with all the breaking
:22:36. > :22:39.business news. Keep up to date with the latest details with insides and
:22:40. > :22:44.analysis from the team of editors around the world. We want to hear
:22:45. > :22:56.from you as well. Get involved on the BBC live web page. You can find
:22:57. > :23:06.us on Twitter and Facebook. On TV and online, whenever you need to
:23:07. > :23:10.know. Let's start with a story about Macy's closing hundreds of its sites
:23:11. > :23:21.due to competition from online retailers. Martin says, I must
:23:22. > :23:24.confess to a bit of showroom in. By on the -- look on the high street
:23:25. > :23:29.and buy online because it is cheaper. I preferred to go to the
:23:30. > :23:33.shops and look around. I have to be honest, I preferred that as well. A
:23:34. > :23:38.bit of both. Depends what it is full. Lots of things the children I
:23:39. > :23:48.buy online and get them delivered and it is very convenient. Things
:23:49. > :23:55.for me, I like the touch and feel. I like the reviews online of lots of
:23:56. > :23:59.consumer feedback. You can do both. You can go into a store and have a
:24:00. > :24:05.look at a book and then go on to Amazon and check the reviews and
:24:06. > :24:11.then buy it in the book shop. I have done that. If it is quite pricey,
:24:12. > :24:14.you could have a quick look to see, are they overcharging? People do a
:24:15. > :24:24.comparison. This is what is happening to the bricks and mortar.
:24:25. > :24:29.Macy's is a big name, isn't it? They are shutting 100 stores. They have a
:24:30. > :24:35.portfolio of over 700. Some of the weaker stores where perhaps they are
:24:36. > :24:40.situated in places where people have fallen out of favour with them. They
:24:41. > :24:47.will recycle the money to refurbish the rest of the stores and putted
:24:48. > :24:55.into digital offering, to bulk up that spend the online space. Let's
:24:56. > :25:06.move on to the story in the Daily Telegraph. Evaluations for big tech
:25:07. > :25:15.companies like Goober. Is there a dot-com bubble on the horizon? --
:25:16. > :25:20.Uber. These are privately held companies are not quoted on the
:25:21. > :25:25.stock market. The reader cross is, technology companies are quoted on
:25:26. > :25:30.the stock markets. -- be read across. The Nasdaq index is
:25:31. > :25:36.technology heavy. It is hitting all-time highs. Markets have been
:25:37. > :25:39.powered by the success of these new technology, New World companies.
:25:40. > :25:44.That has been mirrored in the private space. These companies can
:25:45. > :25:48.raise vast amounts of money from private wealth companies, pension
:25:49. > :25:53.funds. The valuations being put on them are extraordinary. Quite often,
:25:54. > :26:00.profits at the current time are very small. It is all about grabbing
:26:01. > :26:05.market share. They are not making those sums of money yet. The
:26:06. > :26:11.comparisons against some established businesses are very high. Good to
:26:12. > :26:14.talk to you. Thank you for coming in and talking to us.
:26:15. > :26:26.Have a great weekend. You have more business out the rest of the day. I
:26:27. > :26:29.am done. Goodbye.