:00:00. > :00:08.gender for their profile page in the US. Those are the latest headlines
:00:09. > :00:10.from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with the World
:00:11. > :00:22.Business Report. As France struggles to avoid a new
:00:23. > :00:28.recession, employers say big changes are needed to the French way of
:00:29. > :00:31.life. Plus - Beijing's challenge to Airbus and Boeing.
:00:32. > :00:33.Could a Chinese airliner be flying within a year? The latest from the
:00:34. > :00:46.Singapore Airshow. Welcome to World Business Report I'm
:00:47. > :00:49.Alice Baxter. In a moment, the latest inflation figures provide
:00:50. > :00:54.more evidence of a slowdown in China. But first. We start with
:00:55. > :00:57.Europe's fragile economic recovery. Over the next few hours, a slew of
:00:58. > :01:00.official figures are expected to show the region's main economies
:01:01. > :01:08.managing to grow, albeit very slightly, in the final three months
:01:09. > :01:11.of 2013. But as that recovery gathers pace in Germany, the UK and
:01:12. > :01:17.even bailed-out Spain. France has continued to struggle piling the
:01:18. > :01:19.pressure on President Hollande. Its economy actually shrank in the three
:01:20. > :01:24.months to September last year, raising fears it was slipping back
:01:25. > :01:30.into recession. That's defined, of course, as two quarters in a row of
:01:31. > :01:33.negative growth. It's expected to have avoided that fate, just, with a
:01:34. > :01:39.return to growth of just 0.2% in the final quarter. We get those figures
:01:40. > :01:42.in around an hour's time. President Hollande has staked his reputation
:01:43. > :01:48.on trying to cut unemployment from its record levels. But so far he's
:01:49. > :01:51.failed to turn the rising tide of jobless or to carry out the kind of
:01:52. > :01:55.reform to the labour market that many employers say is needed. Our
:01:56. > :02:02.European business correspondent Nigel Cassidy reports from Paris and
:02:03. > :02:06.Lille. It is admired the world over but the
:02:07. > :02:14.French way of life has become unsustainable. The official audit
:02:15. > :02:18.office says state deficit stands at 30,000 euros per citizen and is out
:02:19. > :02:24.of control. It was the mayor of this very city, north of Paris who
:02:25. > :02:30.instigated the 35 hour week. Ironically, it is now these and
:02:31. > :02:34.other measures to protect French workers which are arguably stopping
:02:35. > :02:45.job creation and holding back economic growth. TRANSLATION: There
:02:46. > :02:51.are too many subsidies so people are not motivated to work. I would like
:02:52. > :02:58.to work in Switzerland or England because there is more money there.
:02:59. > :03:11.In the UK or USA they have a recovery because people are working
:03:12. > :03:15.and we are not. The President has asked employers like this retailer
:03:16. > :03:19.to create more jobs but he says it is impossible in the face of
:03:20. > :03:24.inflexible rules on everything from staff lavatories and time off for
:03:25. > :03:29.some working. He says the system has stopped wealth creation. When you
:03:30. > :03:38.have yet possibility to stay at home, not working. You are not
:03:39. > :03:55.obliged to what, you accept to work one hour. We must make an effort to
:03:56. > :03:58.day, in Spain, they have made cuts. Retailers say if anything, things
:03:59. > :04:04.are getting worse. Take store opening hours. This cosmetic store
:04:05. > :04:12.in Paris is used to be open until midnight. But now, they are using
:04:13. > :04:15.the court is to force landmark stores to follow the letter of the
:04:16. > :04:20.law and closed early. French government is showing no signs of
:04:21. > :04:25.forcing a change. To the Singapore Airshow now. If
:04:26. > :04:29.you've been watching our coverage this week you will know it has been
:04:30. > :04:34.dominated once again by the world's two big plane manufacturers, Airbus
:04:35. > :04:36.and Boeing. But they could soon have a new rival: the state-owned
:04:37. > :04:43.Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China - known as Comac. It hasn't
:04:44. > :04:46.yet manufactured a commercial aeroplane, these models are all they
:04:47. > :04:50.have to show at the moment. But this time next year all that could have
:04:51. > :04:55.changed. Our reporter Ashleigh Nghiem went to find out what their
:04:56. > :04:58.plan is. Let's be clear, this lane was not
:04:59. > :05:16.ill to buy China. Comb Comac is hoping to target the market
:05:17. > :05:21.of small, domestic planes. Comac believes it will have its first
:05:22. > :05:25.plane ready within years. TRANSLATION: We are currently
:05:26. > :05:31.working on a company that designed. We are in the trial production
:05:32. > :05:35.stage. Last year, we started first construction of the first
:05:36. > :05:44.generation. We hope to reach the assembly stage soon. This is what
:05:45. > :05:48.Comac's first plane will look like. Tens of millions of dollars have
:05:49. > :05:54.been invested into developing this plane and Comac says it has 400
:05:55. > :05:58.orders from 16 firms. The interest is coming from domestic airlines in
:05:59. > :06:03.China. Comac says it also has deals in the pipeline with firms in
:06:04. > :06:08.Singapore and the United States. Some question if the aircraft will
:06:09. > :06:12.take flight even then. Building an aeroplane is not an easy task and
:06:13. > :06:23.Comac admits it lacks the experience. Analysts say that is not
:06:24. > :06:31.Comac's only challenge. It raises doubts. Comac needs to work hard to
:06:32. > :06:35.get some Western faces on board who have experience in rolling out
:06:36. > :06:41.programmes, rather than taking on the challenge is themselves. That
:06:42. > :06:48.will allow them to attract some investors. That may explain why
:06:49. > :06:52.orders have slowed to a trickle. The firm has set a modest target of just
:06:53. > :06:57.30 orders this year but like all plane makers, Comac's reputation now
:06:58. > :07:05.depends on its ability to deliver on time.
:07:06. > :07:15.Let's head to China now. The politically sensitive issue of
:07:16. > :07:20.inflation. The latest figures will provide relief to shoppers
:07:21. > :07:27.everywhere. Consumer price rises were at a seven month low in
:07:28. > :07:33.January. Producer prices have now fallen over two years. Let's get
:07:34. > :07:42.some analysis from Rico Hizon in Singapore. Explain the numbers. If
:07:43. > :07:45.you take a look at the numbers, we are seeing challenging times a head
:07:46. > :07:52.for the mainland economy. To a half percent in January and pad to a year
:07:53. > :07:56.ago levels, prices came in flat despite a 3.7% gain in food prices
:07:57. > :08:00.which included both the Western and Chinese New Year is. When you speak
:08:01. > :08:03.with economies they say inflation is not going to be an issue in the
:08:04. > :08:10.mainland this year. The data leaves room for the government to stimulate
:08:11. > :08:15.economic growth if it drops to low. Factory orders which we mentioned
:08:16. > :08:22.earlier or producer prices fell 16% and that is a decline over 23
:08:23. > :08:27.months. Analysts say these readings are just domestic demand remains
:08:28. > :08:41.weak in China. Which does not bode well for economic expansion in 2014.
:08:42. > :08:45.A so-called curve on waste at the dining table. China's leadership has
:08:46. > :08:50.issued a raft of bands ranging from fancy bank which to expensive gift
:08:51. > :08:59.in an effort to deter endemic graft which causes widespread public
:09:00. > :09:05.anger. The lunar year was the first in ten years. The inflation outlook
:09:06. > :09:11.for the coming months will remain subdued which could impact economic
:09:12. > :09:12.growth. We know domestic consumption is something that the Chinese
:09:13. > :09:26.Administration want to see boosted. In other news. Anglo American
:09:27. > :09:29.becomes the next of the global mining giants to report results
:09:30. > :09:32.later this Friday - after rival Rio Tinto reported a jump in profits on
:09:33. > :09:34.Thursday. Investors will be looking in particular at Anglo's platinum
:09:35. > :09:39.operations, the world's biggest, which have been disrupted by
:09:40. > :09:42.damaging strikes in South Africa. That and lower prices for some
:09:43. > :09:56.commodities are expected to weigh on profits. A quick look at the market
:09:57. > :09:59.is in Japan. Japan's Nikkei share average reversed early gains and
:10:00. > :10:02.fell into negative territory on Friday, as a rally inspired by gains
:10:03. > :10:03.on Wall Street failed to attract follow-through buying from
:10:04. > :10:18.investors. Many thanks. NHS hospitals in
:10:19. > :10:20.England are to be given management advice from the man credited with
:10:21. > :10:21.turning round the fortunes of