:00:00. > :00:00.deep. For the latest financial news with
:00:00. > :00:25.Sally. East meets West. The Chinese
:00:26. > :00:28.President arrives in Europe on a visit to get towards international
:00:29. > :00:36.issues and free trade. And as leaders meet in the Hague,
:00:37. > :00:39.there is speculation of further action against Russia and we ask if
:00:40. > :00:47.the future is bleak for businesses trading day.
:00:48. > :00:52.Welcome to World Business Report. Also in the programme, output from
:00:53. > :00:55.China's factories stood again in March, deepening concern that the
:00:56. > :01:02.nation will miss its growth targets. But first, Xi Jinping has arrived in
:01:03. > :01:07.Europe to start his long`awaited diplomatic tour of the region. In
:01:08. > :01:11.his trip to Belgium, France and Germany the Chinese leader will meet
:01:12. > :01:19.a nuclear summit of other leaders and hope to sign a series of trade
:01:20. > :01:27.deals. An order of Erebus jets may be placed by the Chinese government.
:01:28. > :01:34.`` Erebus. But the meetings are often challenging.
:01:35. > :01:37.Arriving in the Netherlands on Saturday, the Chinese leader on a
:01:38. > :01:41.landmark visit to Europe in which trade and business are going to
:01:42. > :01:47.feature prominently. France is preparing a sumptuous welcome. It is
:01:48. > :01:56.the 50th anniversary of relationships with Beijing. Nothing
:01:57. > :02:07.is confirmed, but it is hoped that Airbus may clinch a major deal to
:02:08. > :02:13.sell 150 passenger jets to China. Other sectors are also being looked
:02:14. > :02:16.at by Paris. Plus, a carmaker will formally signed a long`awaited deal
:02:17. > :02:23.opening up its capital to the Chinese. Afterwards, Xi Jinping
:02:24. > :02:28.travels to Berlin and Brussels for a first ever visit by a Chinese
:02:29. > :02:31.president to the EU institutions. Trade relations have much improved
:02:32. > :02:39.since the resolution of an anti`dumping rail over Chinese solar
:02:40. > :02:43.panels. The visit comes at a crucial time in international affairs. The
:02:44. > :02:49.EU is downgrading ties with Russia because of actions in Premier. For
:02:50. > :02:53.China that can only be an opportunity. A favourite reception
:02:54. > :02:58.in European capitals leading to better trading cards and perhaps to
:02:59. > :03:06.that particular prize in Beijing, more transfers of Western
:03:07. > :03:15.technology. We will keep an eye on his tour and any deal stunned. ``
:03:16. > :03:21.deals done. Figures just released in China indicate its manufacturing
:03:22. > :03:30.sector saw a fall in growth to an eight`month low. Let us go to
:03:31. > :03:35.Singapore. These are just the preliminary numbers that we have
:03:36. > :03:41.had. But it seems to be a trend gathering momentum, that factories
:03:42. > :03:49.are slowing down. That is right. It is the preliminary numbers put out
:03:50. > :03:57.every time this month. It is the purchasing managers index. Dropping
:03:58. > :04:04.to 48.1 versus 48.5 in February. Any reading below 50 is a contraction.
:04:05. > :04:19.It focuses on smaller companies in the private sector. That data will
:04:20. > :04:25.be released later this month. Last year this month it was 50.2. All of
:04:26. > :04:29.this reinforcing signs of a slowdown in the world's second`largest
:04:30. > :04:36.economy. Chinese exports have also dropped 18%. That is leading to a
:04:37. > :04:42.trade deficit. All of that suggesting that China is starting to
:04:43. > :04:48.slow. We also heard from China's annual National People's conference.
:04:49. > :04:53.The Premier setting a target of 7.5%. That is the same rate as last
:04:54. > :05:01.year. He is adding there was some flexibility on the target. They
:05:02. > :05:06.declared a war on pollution, which is something that many Chinese
:05:07. > :05:10.factories are remaining wary of. They are looking for ways to
:05:11. > :05:16.manufacture more cleanly. We appreciate your time. Another
:05:17. > :05:22.story that is ongoing, as sanctions increase in Russia and as the G`7
:05:23. > :05:25.and other leaders meet in the Hague to discuss the confrontation, we ask
:05:26. > :05:35.how worried businesses should be trading on Sunday. The European
:05:36. > :05:39.Union is united in its readiness to impose economic sanctions on Russia,
:05:40. > :05:45.according to one minister. He says Russia has a lot more to lose than
:05:46. > :05:51.Europe or the United States. And the aim is to uphold international law
:05:52. > :05:56.and is of secondary importance to economic or financial costs. For now
:05:57. > :06:00.the sanctions are politically focused, but companies in the region
:06:01. > :06:07.are getting nervous. Experts are worried it could impact European
:06:08. > :06:12.business is more than Russian ones. What are the legal ramifications. A
:06:13. > :06:21.question to my guest. Thank you for being on the programme. The company
:06:22. > :06:25.you advise, legal matters in regard to their trading elsewhere. For
:06:26. > :06:32.companies doing business in Russia, what do they need to be thinking
:06:33. > :06:39.about? Good morning. The first message for companies is, do not
:06:40. > :06:43.panic. The sanctions that have been imposed a relatively narrow in
:06:44. > :06:52.scope. Alive to the direction of travel. There are three things that
:06:53. > :06:59.indicates that direction of travel. A bank was subject to US sanctions.
:07:00. > :07:03.That indicates the financial services sector might be targeted.
:07:04. > :07:08.Ayshire holder in an oil trading company was targeted. That makes
:07:09. > :07:15.trade is difficult. `` eight shareholder. An executive order
:07:16. > :07:19.issued by the US government that authorises further economic
:07:20. > :07:22.sanctions if required targeting financial services, energy and
:07:23. > :07:28.mining. Those are the sectors of most concern. At the moment the
:07:29. > :07:34.sanctions are relatively limited. The steps companies can take to
:07:35. > :07:45.protect themselves are threefold. Very your customer. Who stands
:07:46. > :07:49.behind your customer? `` know your. Secondly, contractual protection.
:07:50. > :07:53.Make sure you have the right to suspend the provision of your
:07:54. > :08:02.products and services or any payments. That is should sanctions
:08:03. > :08:05.be imposed. From a commercial perspective, six things such as
:08:06. > :08:16.payment in advance of delivery. Then you can protect yourself quite well.
:08:17. > :08:20.And of course, the issue for business is the lack of visibility
:08:21. > :08:25.on this and the lack of being able to predict what is going to happen.
:08:26. > :08:29.We are hearing that some companies in Europe are very worried about
:08:30. > :08:35.sanctions pushing up the cost of energy. It is all sorts of areas
:08:36. > :08:44.where companies can be hit by what is going on. The economic impact
:08:45. > :08:49.cannot be undermined. Will it impact on the media turn, but it will also
:08:50. > :08:58.impact on international businesses. There is a lot of nervous as this
:08:59. > :09:09.make feeling out there. `` and others feelings. If you compare the
:09:10. > :09:15.sanctions with Iran, moving to economic sanctions had a significant
:09:16. > :09:22.impact on business. It also had an impact on international businesses
:09:23. > :09:30.trading with Iran. Very fast moving sanctions can come down quickly. We
:09:31. > :09:38.have to leave it there. Good to get a legal perspective. Let us have a
:09:39. > :09:43.look at the markets. So you have a sense of how things are going at the
:09:44. > :09:50.start of a brand`new trading week. A mixed picture in Asia. The news out
:09:51. > :09:58.of China about its manufacturing not phasing investors. These are the
:09:59. > :10:10.currencies. Back in the few minutes for the papers.
:10:11. > :10:19.The papers in a moment. There are fresh calls for an investigation
:10:20. > :10:22.into Britain's energy market. A consumer group say that bills are
:10:23. > :10:24.too high and more competition needs to be