26/12/2011 World Business Report

We take a look at the growing media as a corporate marketing tool.

Welcome. Tyne and Japan have negotiated a

deal that could edge out the dollar and create an important currency

bloc in the region. -- China. Our correspondent is in Singapore and

has been following the story. It is important given the tensions

between the US and China. There are accusations over in manipulation to

China's advantage. Indeed. As you say, this perhaps

could be a way to try to step away from this. Japan and China have

promoted direct exchange of their currencies to mainly cut costs for

companies and boost bilateral trade. It has benefits for both countries.

This came about on the sidelines of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda trip

to Beijing on Sunday. It is his first official trip since he came

to power and he held talks with President Hu Jia and how after

meeting his counterpart. This deal is significant because it will

allow firms to convert the Chinese and Japanese currency's directly

into each other. Currently, businesses need to buy US dollars

before converting them into the desired currency. That adds to

their cost. All of it, as you suggest, is part of the latest step

as it looks to become a more global role for its currency - the Chinese

you -- yuan. Trade between the two countries was about $340 million in

2010. The two countries have allowed Japan to the issue bonds in

China, yuan denominated. Japan will look to buy Chinese government

bonds. This may prove to be beneficial to both nations. And it

moves away from reliance on the US dollar. They say they have made

progress on the trade agreements. For we will follow those stories

Deraa the day. Now for a look at the financial

markets. -- we will. No activity on markets. -- we will. No activity on

the European markets but some in the Far East. What has been

happening? Essentially, the only two markets

that are open are the Nikkei and one in Korea. Fairly quiet due to

the holiday. The Nikkei has been rising, thanks to the reports we

rising, thanks to the reports we saw on Friday. More optimistic US

data. New home sales gaining ground. That is boosting the earnings

outlook for Asian companies that export a lot of their products to

the US. And the US economy is improving more than expected which

could provide something of a boost to sentiment in Asia in the new

year. Thank you for now.

There has been much talk this year of China coming to their aid of

Europe's struggling economies. One sign is the growing number of

tourists contributing to the UK economy. It is no doubt the

visitors from China are increasing, rising by about one quarter in this

year alone. But how much does UK companies benefit from the tourism?

The British high street is gearing up to be a shopping destination for

the Chinese. Some major stores are now accepted Chinese credit cards.

Because for many tourists, shopping for brands is firmly on the

itinerary. What did you buy? Burberry. It is very cheap. Cheaper

than in China. Body Shop and Holland and Barrett.

But tourism in the China -- from China is still small compared to

the 3.8 million French tourists. So why are British businesses so keen

to attract Chinese tourists? Is it because they are such big spenders?

According to figures, the average Chinese tourist spent around �1,700

here. That is more than three times the amount spent by the average

international visitor. Chinese people would expect to sit at a

round table and get 15-20 dishes also. This doctor is a Fellow in

Chinese subjects at Oxford University. His research shows tiny

society has developed a particular type of consumer. Many people have

a lot of disposable income. If you only have one child, that means you

have four grandparents, two parents, all lavishing money on you. So the

average age of the biggest consumer is lower than other parts of the

world. So the UK needs to figure out what time is people like and

rearrange their business accordingly. This restaurant in

Oxford seems to be doing just that. Staff serve more Chinese shoppers

than British customers, many coming from the nearby designer village.

Lots of the customers show me what they buy. The famous brands.

Britain's trade agreement means international visitors need another

visa to enter the UK. That limits numbers coming here. The visa

restriction is certainly a concern and the capacity of the airlines is

another issue. They need to have the capacity of something like the

French and German carrier's. 2020, it is expected the UK will

host 300,000 Chinese a year. But with the Chinese middle class

expected to reach 700 million by then, there is still a huge tourist

market to tap. First they talk about e-commerce

which meant selling things online, this year, the special word is f-

commerce, the idea of selling things on social media. Two recent

surveys suggested companies in the developing world are better at

using the likes of Twitter and Facebook than their counterparts in

Europe and the US. Welcome to the world of their new

commerce. At this consultancy firm, they are advising companies on how

to use social media to their benefit. They are helping Heinz

sell a special soup to customers over Facebook. They can get a

special tin of soup deliver to anyone who is sick. So the

marketing message is spread by friends, more credibly perhaps then

ordinary advertising. Social media is trying to activate advocates and

get them speaking on your behalf which is more convincing.

research from both these two companies suggests businesses in

the developing world are much better at harnessing the chatter of

social media then companies in the West. Latin America, Brazil, China

and India use those social media more than companies in Europe. One

reason is they need to infiltrate foreign markets as a quickly as

possible. If you were setting up a developing marketing niche, would

you put people on the ground and have representatives as in the

traditional method, or could you use social media? You would use

social media. And this video on Twitter shows graphically why

companies should use social media. If customers are going to use it