:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.
:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news, with Sally and
:00:00. > :00:23.Exports and imports both fell in November, as consumers fail to
:00:24. > :00:28.What can the government do now to boost domestic demand?
:00:29. > :00:32.Overcapacity and slowing global trade results in a giant merger
:00:33. > :00:47.Also in the programme: Revised figures from Japan
:00:48. > :01:01.China has released its latest set of trade numbers.
:01:02. > :01:03.Both exports and imports declined in November, compared with
:01:04. > :01:07.The big question now is whether or not the cooling economy
:01:08. > :01:12.will face a hard or soft landing in the coming months and years.
:01:13. > :01:17.Chinese trade last year was worth $4.3 trillion
:01:18. > :01:19.making it the world's largest trader, a title it took
:01:20. > :01:25.Those figures disguise a big problem though.
:01:26. > :01:29.China saw imports drop for a record 13th month in a row
:01:30. > :01:34.in November, down 8.7% on the same time a year before.
:01:35. > :01:36.The falling import numbers suggest domestic demand is not as strong
:01:37. > :01:54.And, as you can see here, the rate of Chinese growth has been
:01:55. > :01:57.coming down from the heady heights of over 12% in 2010 to less than 7%
:01:58. > :02:07.The Chinese government is attempting to shift the economy to one that is
:02:08. > :02:13.fuelled by consumer demand as seen in the west.
:02:14. > :02:16.-- West. However, these figures demonstrate this is not
:02:17. > :02:20.So, is China now running out of options to prevent a hard landing?
:02:21. > :02:26.Our corrrespondent in Beijing is Celia Hatton.
:02:27. > :02:34.Nice to see you. Give us a bit more detail on the November numbers. What
:02:35. > :02:38.do they tell us? The numbers tell us it is basically a continuation in
:02:39. > :02:45.the pattern that we have been seeing for the past year. A continued
:02:46. > :02:48.decline in the numbers. It should be said that these numbers weren't as
:02:49. > :02:52.low as economists had feared, although it depends on whether you
:02:53. > :02:55.take these numbers at face value. Some analysts believe the real
:02:56. > :02:59.number is are couple of percentage points lower than reported by the
:03:00. > :03:04.Chinese government. So there is some worry that these numbers continue to
:03:05. > :03:07.be dropping. Some analyst reports that I read today predict that these
:03:08. > :03:12.numbers will continue to drop for perhaps the next 18 months. What
:03:13. > :03:18.will the government do next? It has tried many things, like interest
:03:19. > :03:21.rate cuts, various other measures. Some things have been successful,
:03:22. > :03:27.like cutting taxes on the purchasing of cars. That was quite a spike in
:03:28. > :03:33.car sales in November. Absolutely. So the government cut taxes by half
:03:34. > :03:37.on small automobiles and that led to an 18% boost in sales in November.
:03:38. > :03:43.So, some believe that the government will continue to participate in
:03:44. > :03:47.these tax cuts. Of course we've also seen interest rate cuts and we have
:03:48. > :03:51.seen six so by this year and some are predicting who will see another
:03:52. > :03:55.one later this month. And of course there is expected to be more
:03:56. > :03:59.stimulus spending by the government. This is a bit of a double-edged
:04:00. > :04:03.sword. Local governments in China have gotten themselves into some hot
:04:04. > :04:09.water in the past I spending money on projects that are ill-advised and
:04:10. > :04:13.defended government, local governments, get into this terrible
:04:14. > :04:20.cycle of bad loans, for example. So, stimulus spending is all worry
:04:21. > :04:28.semitone. What they will continue to try to boost the economy. -- is
:04:29. > :04:32.worrisome in China. It will wait for the economy to shift its focus from
:04:33. > :04:40.exports and manufacturing towards a more domestic demand. What is
:04:41. > :04:44.sentiment like? We talk about how China is slowing, but what do the
:04:45. > :04:48.Chinese people feel? It is all about confidence about the future, many
:04:49. > :04:56.economists argue, in terms of viewing future growth? Well, many
:04:57. > :05:02.people in China are concerned. They see the same numbers that we see.
:05:03. > :05:04.They see that manufacturing is slow, they see continued concerns over
:05:05. > :05:11.paying for things like healthcare and education. On continuing trend
:05:12. > :05:16.is China is that saving rates are very high. Chinese people are
:05:17. > :05:21.traditionally saving much more than people in Western countries. But
:05:22. > :05:23.that's because many people are concerned that might not have the
:05:24. > :05:33.government to help them with in-flight retirement and healthcare
:05:34. > :05:36.in the future. People are concerned, especially when it comes to thing
:05:37. > :05:42.for graduate employment and making sure young people can find jobs.
:05:43. > :05:47.Thank you so much. Also illustrating the other story in the day's news,
:05:48. > :05:52.regarding the problem with smog. We will talk about that later.
:05:53. > :05:55.Internet firms including the likes of Google and Amazon,
:05:56. > :05:58.operating in the EU, will be forced to report serious security breaches
:05:59. > :06:02.According to the Reuters news agency, EU countries and lawmakers
:06:03. > :06:03.have agreed reporting obligations for
:06:04. > :06:09.companies in critical sectors such as transport, energy and finance.
:06:10. > :06:12.The price of oil has fallen to its lowest level since 2009 as global
:06:13. > :06:18.The price of West Texas crude sank to $37.65 a barrel,
:06:19. > :06:25.a drop of 5.8%, while Brent Crude fell 5.3% to $40.73 a barrel.
:06:26. > :06:28.The slumping price comes as OPEC, a group of
:06:29. > :06:36.the largest oil producing nations, refused to cut oil production.
:06:37. > :06:42.Again, something we will comment on when we come to the papers. Now
:06:43. > :06:46.let's talk about a big merger on the cards in a global shipping industry.
:06:47. > :06:49.In a $2.4 billion deal, France's CMA CGM has agreed to buy
:06:50. > :06:55.the Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines.
:06:56. > :06:58.If it gets the nod from regulators it could be the biggest deal
:06:59. > :07:01.in almost a decade in a sector struggling with slower global trade.
:07:02. > :07:05.Our Asia Business correspondent Karishma Vaswani has the details.
:07:06. > :07:11.This is one of Asia's easiest ports and a major player that has helped
:07:12. > :07:18.Singapore turn into a global trading and shipping hub is Neptune Orient
:07:19. > :07:22.Lines. It was started in 1968, originally as Singapore's national
:07:23. > :07:28.shipping line. Today it is one of the world's largest. 92 vessels
:07:29. > :07:33.servicing many ports around the world. But over the last few years
:07:34. > :07:40.it has racked up $4 billion in debt. No surprise then that Neptune Orient
:07:41. > :07:51.Lines has been looking for a suitor. For NOL -- it require significant
:07:52. > :07:57.investment. We need to improve Alp competitive position and stay
:07:58. > :08:01.competitive in this industry. NOL must be willing to take the capital
:08:02. > :08:07.investment to stay in the game. That's despite the weak conditions
:08:08. > :08:10.in the industry. We operate in a very fragmented world, with many
:08:11. > :08:18.players. The industry as a whole suffers from volatile freight
:08:19. > :08:21.trades. In this context, and as mentioned, we believe that scale is
:08:22. > :08:26.more critical than ever to ensure profitable growth. Now, this deal
:08:27. > :08:31.could be one of the biggest ever in the global shipping industry.
:08:32. > :08:36.Companies have been under pressure to cut costs, sell their assets and
:08:37. > :08:39.merge. And with predictions that next year's economic output will be
:08:40. > :08:44.even worse than next year, expect more consolidation to come.
:08:45. > :08:48.Japan has released revised growth numbers for the third quarter
:08:49. > :08:56.of the year, showing the economy grew by 0.3% from July to September.
:08:57. > :09:04.It thought it contracted, so this is a big relief for the Japanese
:09:05. > :09:06.president Shinzo Abe, as we thought Japan was in recession in that time.
:09:07. > :09:10.Rico Hizon joins me now from Singapore.
:09:11. > :09:20.Point three of a %, but it makes all the difference! -- zero .3%. A big
:09:21. > :09:25.relief, dodging a recession. With the number, it offers a glimmer of
:09:26. > :09:30.hope for policymakers struggling to end years of stagnation. Capital
:09:31. > :09:38.expenditure was the key contributor to this upgrade, which is a welcome
:09:39. > :09:41.sign for the government, the pressuring of companies to invest
:09:42. > :09:49.more and put the economy on a sustained recovery path. The data
:09:50. > :09:55.may ease some pessimism over the outlook and allow the central bank
:09:56. > :09:59.to hold off on additional 80 is in measures, even as inflation slides
:10:00. > :10:05.further away from the 2% target. But there are sceptics who say don't
:10:06. > :10:09.read too much into this. The upgrade was amplified by a slower than
:10:10. > :10:13.expected fall in inventory, which works to push up growth, but
:10:14. > :10:18.suggests that companies are struggling to sell goods in the face
:10:19. > :10:22.of weak demand. Of course, apart from this GDP revision, some good
:10:23. > :10:27.news, especially from the trade front. Japan posted a surplus for
:10:28. > :10:31.the 16th straight month in October, as the trade balance swung to a
:10:32. > :10:35.surplus, which now stands at about $12 billion US. This might be the
:10:36. > :10:39.start of something good for the Japanese economy. Let's hope so!
:10:40. > :10:42.Thank you. These are the markets.
:10:43. > :10:50.Oil is still languishing at lows last seen in 2009. Asian stocks
:10:51. > :10:53.across the board are lower because of the China trade data. See you
:10:54. > :11:03.soon. Farmers need to dramatically cut
:11:04. > :11:07.the amount of antibiotics they use on their animals, because
:11:08. > :11:11.of the threat to human health,