:00:00. > :00:00.for minor injuries. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World
:00:00. > :00:17.News. Now for the latest financial news with Sally.
:00:18. > :00:21.Eyeing Alibaba ` every big bank wants a piece of this latest market
:00:22. > :00:25.floatation that's set to be the biggest technology listing since
:00:26. > :00:28.Facebook. And in the driving seat: China's
:00:29. > :00:36.young urbanites are the new market force for global carmakers.
:00:37. > :00:43.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the
:00:44. > :00:50.programme a spending spree in Japan in March has caused a new economic
:00:51. > :00:53.headache for Shinzo Abe. We'll have the details.
:00:54. > :00:55.The huge Chinese Internet company Alibaba is preparing to file a
:00:56. > :01:01.prospectus for its highly anticipated stock market debut in
:01:02. > :01:03.the USA. When it happens, it'll be the largest American IPO since
:01:04. > :01:11.Facebook back in 2012 and could attract nearly as much attention.
:01:12. > :01:14.The company accounts for 80% of all Chinese online consumer shopping,
:01:15. > :01:15.and last year it accounted for more transactions than Amazon and eBay
:01:16. > :01:24.combined. Only last week another Chinese
:01:25. > :01:28.internet firm, Weibo, launched on the US market ` so why are the
:01:29. > :01:41.giants of Chinese tech so keen to come to market in the West now?
:01:42. > :01:44.Samira Hussain is in New York. It was just last week when China's
:01:45. > :01:49.equivalent to Twitter, Weibo made its debut here in New York. In that
:01:50. > :01:56.first day of trading, the stock shot up 20%. The success of Weibo has
:01:57. > :02:02.investors even more excited about Alibaba. Chinese e`commerce giant
:02:03. > :02:08.has more sales and net income of both Amazon and eBay combined. It
:02:09. > :02:13.China's largest Internet company and operate in the world 's largest
:02:14. > :02:19.Internet market. Alibaba a council 80% of all Chinese online consumer
:02:20. > :02:24.shopping. But why a Chinese companies choosing to list in New
:02:25. > :02:29.York instead of Hong Kong? In the case of Alibaba, most of it has to
:02:30. > :02:32.do with ownership structure. American rules allow for executives
:02:33. > :02:39.to retain much more control of their company. Alibaba's successors have
:02:40. > :02:46.even lifted some US companies. Yahoo! Has benefited a stake in
:02:47. > :02:51.Alibaba and it's really been boosting Yahoo! 's share which have
:02:52. > :02:55.run up by more than 40% this year. It is all the more reason why many
:02:56. > :03:00.more investors will be watching how Alibaba does in the coming months.
:03:01. > :03:03.Beijing's annual auto show has opened with foreign brands unveiling
:03:04. > :03:09.dozens of new models and concept cars, all eager to get a bite of the
:03:10. > :03:14.rapidly expanding Chinese market. Last year, sales in China rose to
:03:15. > :03:17.just under 18 million vehicles. Now as Melanie Wray reports, car makers
:03:18. > :03:19.from Europe, America, Japan and Korea with more advanced
:03:20. > :03:21.technologies than the domestic market have moved to the fast lane
:03:22. > :03:35.to appeal to local tastes. Global carmakers are gearing up to
:03:36. > :03:39.meet the demands of China's young urban professionals. They want a
:03:40. > :03:44.vehicle that will let them stand out but not a top end model. That's why
:03:45. > :03:49.it China's annual auto shows in Beijing and Shanghai have grown into
:03:50. > :03:54.the industry 's most important commercial events. Notably strong
:03:55. > :03:59.Chinese sales helped to support the global industry while the United
:04:00. > :04:07.States, Europe slumped following the 2008 financial crisis. This year,
:04:08. > :04:13.Ford unveiled a new sedan. Designed in China for global sale. This
:04:14. > :04:16.compact model was designed with features to appeal to local tastes.
:04:17. > :04:22.They include a bigger backseat for children and grandparents, brighter
:04:23. > :04:26.colours and cupholders to fit iced tea bottles. It goes on sale in
:04:27. > :04:33.China this year, expanding later to other markets. Wheeze the best ideas
:04:34. > :04:39.from around the world. It is amazing how what people want and value is
:04:40. > :04:45.similar around the world. They want to be able to handle their
:04:46. > :04:49.families. I think this is going to be a preferred vehicle around the
:04:50. > :04:55.world. It was really led by Chinese taste. But these foreign brands
:04:56. > :04:59.piling into China are adding to the intense competition. Domestic brands
:05:00. > :05:05.have been slowly losing market share. TRANSLATION: About five years
:05:06. > :05:12.ago, the main foreign carmakers in China start to roll out products
:05:13. > :05:21.that range between 9000 and 60,000 US dollars. A cheaper price poses
:05:22. > :05:24.competition for Chinese domestic carmakers because foreign brands
:05:25. > :05:30.have a better reputation. It estimated that China is car demand
:05:31. > :05:35.is likely to reach 2.7 million cars a year by 2020. Which would make it
:05:36. > :05:39.the world 's biggest premium car market, ahead of the US. If this
:05:40. > :05:44.show is anything to go by, it looks like China will pay a big role in
:05:45. > :05:51.designing future vehicles. Not just for them but also the world.
:05:52. > :05:54.We will be discussing that story further we look at today's
:05:55. > :05:56.newspapers. But now, let's talk about Japan. The task of steering
:05:57. > :05:59.the Japanese economy back to a health is getting tougher for Prime
:06:00. > :06:02.Minister Shinzo Abe. The latest trade figures show the growth in
:06:03. > :06:06.shipments of goods overseas is marginal and yet there was a big
:06:07. > :06:12.spike in imports in the month of March. But was this down to a
:06:13. > :06:16.spending spree ahead of the rise in sales tax there in April. Sharanjit
:06:17. > :06:23.Leyl is in our Asia business hub in Singapore. Nice to see you. Tell us
:06:24. > :06:31.more about what is going on in Japan. As he said, a slight rise in
:06:32. > :06:36.exports but huge rises in imports making the deficit basically
:06:37. > :06:40.quadrupling from last year. Partially to do with that sales
:06:41. > :06:46.hike. But more to do with the ongoing problems around increased
:06:47. > :06:49.energy imports. The deficit quadrupling in March and export
:06:50. > :06:56.growth slowing along with this rise in imports, the week Japanese
:06:57. > :06:59.currency. Hugely Djibouti do that as well, pushing up the cost of those
:07:00. > :07:03.imports. The deficit at Shelly Rudman to $14 billion. Japan's
:07:04. > :07:07.energy imports have been rising after it shut all of its nuclear
:07:08. > :07:12.reactors in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
:07:13. > :07:20.According to the latest trade data, imports have liquefied and are
:07:21. > :07:25.rising. Japan is having to pay a lot more for those imports after
:07:26. > :07:30.aggressive policy move is aimed at spurring economic growth. Including
:07:31. > :07:38.a huge group to the country 's money supply. The Japanese currency has
:07:39. > :07:46.fell `` fallen nearly 10% against the US currency. That surge in
:07:47. > :07:49.consumer spending is also to blame. Some Alice are saying the tax
:07:50. > :07:53.increase could have wanted companies to push their shipments to the local
:07:54. > :07:59.market to take advantage of buying spree before that tax rise took
:08:00. > :08:03.place. There was also other data as well. Some of them showing
:08:04. > :08:08.sluggishness in the corporate sector, demand for loans of Japanese
:08:09. > :08:16.countries fell. Consumer confidence fell in March as well. Consumer
:08:17. > :08:21.confidence actually much lower as well. Thank you very much. Let
:08:22. > :08:25.squeeze in some other business stories.
:08:26. > :08:28.A big foreign take over of British company could happen soon. The
:08:29. > :08:29.financial press in the UK are reporting the American
:08:30. > :08:32.pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has approached British rival AstraZeneca
:08:33. > :08:34.with a $100 billion dollar takeover bid. The paper has cited senior
:08:35. > :08:37.investment bankers and industry sources saying that informal
:08:38. > :08:40.conversations about a deal had taken place between the two but that no
:08:41. > :08:45.talks were currently under way after AstraZeneca resisted the approach.
:08:46. > :08:50.Later this week US President Barack Obama heads to Asia, where trade
:08:51. > :08:54.will feature prominently on his agenda. The United States is
:08:55. > :08:57.negotiating a deal called the trans pacific partnership which would cut
:08:58. > :09:02.barriers to doing business with a range of countries, including
:09:03. > :09:05.Singapore and Japan. Breaking a US`Japan deadlock over access to
:09:06. > :09:17.Japan's farm and auto markets is seen as key to finalizing the TPP.
:09:18. > :09:22.Let's have a look at the markets. Today in Asia is a quiet day.
:09:23. > :09:25.Globally, many markets are closed for a public holiday. In Europe and
:09:26. > :09:32.western economies it is the long Easter break going on at the moment.
:09:33. > :09:36.Japan open, Taiwan, South Korea. Hong Kong is not treating all that
:09:37. > :09:41.Shanghai is trading. In Japan, that trade deficit story which our
:09:42. > :09:47.correspondent in Singapore just mentioned. That has weakened yen to
:09:48. > :09:50.a degree. That is all for me for now. I was used in when we review
:09:51. > :10:05.the papers. New figures show that people are
:10:06. > :10:10.five times more likely to get the most dangerous form of skin cancer
:10:11. > :10:14.than they were in the 1970s. The dramatic rise is partly down to the
:10:15. > :10:16.increasing popularity of package holidays and the wider availability
:10:17. > :10:17.of sun