:00:18. > :00:19.China's manufacturers see a smidgen of expansion but is it
:00:20. > :00:27.We have a bull and bear battle it out.
:00:28. > :00:29.And preparing for the risk of climate change, a new report
:00:30. > :00:32.says almost half the worlds biggest institutional investors are doing
:00:33. > :00:52.Also in the programme some good news for mobile phone users in Europe
:00:53. > :00:54.where roaming charges have gone down dramatically.
:00:55. > :00:57.New numbers from China show activity in the manufacturing sector grew
:00:58. > :01:01.for a second month in a row, but only slightly.
:01:02. > :01:03.The official Purchasing Managers' Index came
:01:04. > :01:14.That's down slightly from 50.2 in March and barely above
:01:15. > :01:30.the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction.
:01:31. > :01:41.Good to see you. It is good news but not that exciting. Put it all in
:01:42. > :01:46.perspective for us. Well, how you view China's slowdown may be very
:01:47. > :01:52.different depending on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. I
:01:53. > :02:03.spoke to these two individuals, one is a well-known pessimist, Gordon
:02:04. > :02:12.Chang, and I caught up with him together with this gentleman, Mark
:02:13. > :02:17.Boston. I asked them where they thought China was headed. I think
:02:18. > :02:21.China is going to a natural transition from being an economy
:02:22. > :02:27.that was overreliant on manufacturing, overreliant on
:02:28. > :02:36.investment driven economy, so now it will be a consumer driven service
:02:37. > :02:41.oriented economy. This is exactly what the IMF and others have been
:02:42. > :02:45.telling them to do. So, we are seeing a slowdown, but that will be
:02:46. > :02:52.something that we expect them to get through over the coming years.
:02:53. > :02:59.Gordon, you don't agree with anything Mark says? I don't think
:03:00. > :03:02.they can make this transition because there is significant
:03:03. > :03:07.political opposition in Beijing. At the same time you have $1 trillion
:03:08. > :03:13.of net capital outflow last year, a debt to GDP ratio approaching 400%
:03:14. > :03:17.when you look at all the debt. And you also have infighting between
:03:18. > :03:23.President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, who is supposed to be head
:03:24. > :03:28.of the economy. When you look at these factors, they are not going to
:03:29. > :03:32.make that transition the way everybody wants them to. Even though
:03:33. > :03:40.technically nothing is inevitable, it seems that the crash of some sort
:03:41. > :03:44.looks virtually certain. I was also speaking to Mark Austen. Even though
:03:45. > :03:48.they have very different point of view, one thing seems certain, which
:03:49. > :03:52.is that China's economic fortunes will continue to dig bait where the
:03:53. > :03:57.global economy is headed for sometime come. So much so that
:03:58. > :04:00.manufacturing numbers are partly to blame for the slide we are seeing in
:04:01. > :04:04.regional markets today. Using your mobile phone abroad is
:04:05. > :04:07.now cheaper for customers On Saturday roaming charges were
:04:08. > :04:10.capped with a maximum price, it's the first step before they're
:04:11. > :04:23.completely abolished next year. There is nothing quite like the
:04:24. > :04:27.shock of seeing a huge phone bill after taking a holiday somewhere.
:04:28. > :04:31.That is set to change across Europe because from Saturday prices have
:04:32. > :04:38.been capped for all calls, text messages and data. And even better
:04:39. > :04:40.news for consumers, it is just the first step in plans to completely
:04:41. > :04:45.scrap roaming charges from next year. Under the new rules, roaming
:04:46. > :04:51.will be 75% cheaper during this interim period. Prices are capped at
:04:52. > :05:05.5 cents per minute for outgoing calls, to sense the text, and 5
:05:06. > :05:09.cents per megabyte. So, can we use our phones abroad now without any
:05:10. > :05:13.worry? Not really, because different phone providers may charge you extra
:05:14. > :05:17.if you go over a certain limit. These new rules also only apply
:05:18. > :05:22.within the EU, so if you travel abroad to Asia or Africa, your best
:05:23. > :05:26.bet may still be buying a local sim card.
:05:27. > :05:29.How much is being done by institutional investors to prepare
:05:30. > :05:33.Well nearly half the world's biggest asset owners are doing nothing
:05:34. > :05:36.at all according to a report by Asset Owners Disclosure Project.
:05:37. > :05:38.This organisation represents big investors worth 38 trillion dollars
:05:39. > :05:41.and looks at what action they're taking to mitigate climate risk.
:05:42. > :05:43.A rapidly warming planet means economic instability, which,
:05:44. > :05:48.in turn, means weaker investment portfolios.
:05:49. > :06:03.With me is Julian Poulter, CEO of the Asset Owners Disclosure Project
:06:04. > :06:10.Explain why so many are doing nothing about this. Climate change
:06:11. > :06:14.has become very much an economic and financial issue, not just an
:06:15. > :06:22.environmental one. We live in a time where short-term share markets
:06:23. > :06:25.dominate everything. These asset owners, who incentivised to look at
:06:26. > :06:30.the risk of climate change over a much longer period, more like 20
:06:31. > :06:36.years. Essentially, Mark Carney in his speech in November pointed this
:06:37. > :06:40.out, this tragedy of the Horizons, whereby short-term markets, mainly
:06:41. > :06:44.because things like a lack of carbon price and other incentives in
:06:45. > :06:52.market, will eventually affect financial stability. Once the
:06:53. > :06:56.markets begin to reassess the risk. What you think will cause us to
:06:57. > :07:01.change behaviour in the sense of those who are managing our
:07:02. > :07:06.pensions, ensuring our financial futures, will make good decisions
:07:07. > :07:13.about this? The reality is that many of these asset owners give their
:07:14. > :07:19.funds to short-term manages to deal with it. Essentially, they are not
:07:20. > :07:24.really believing the way the market is pricing it in the short term, and
:07:25. > :07:29.is deciding to do other things in the long-term. They are investing
:07:30. > :07:34.more in renewable energy, and devising new low carbon indices,
:07:35. > :07:38.ways that they can decarbonise their portfolios, so if, in the words of
:07:39. > :07:41.Mark Carney, there is a wholesale reassessment of profits, that the
:07:42. > :07:48.market changes rapidly, they are better protected. Just put this in
:07:49. > :07:56.perspective, it is quite staggering that the figures, if there was some
:07:57. > :08:00.kind of major climate readjustment that was negative, in terms of the
:08:01. > :08:06.money lost and the impact on our economies is in our security. We are
:08:07. > :08:12.less than ten years on from the last big market collapse. The reality is
:08:13. > :08:17.that your average pension portfolio has much greater exposure to climate
:08:18. > :08:23.risk than other mortgage-backed securities did in 2007. It is in
:08:24. > :08:30.more than half of the pension portfolio, and therefore of the
:08:31. > :08:35.markets do start to move... What if there is another hurricane in Boston
:08:36. > :08:37.or somewhere further north, and suddenly markets get a sense that
:08:38. > :08:40.governments will have to move quickly, that rapid reassessment of
:08:41. > :08:45.the risk is what will produce market instability. Thank you to coming in
:08:46. > :08:54.so early on a bank holiday. After a half-century of waiting,
:08:55. > :08:59.passengers have set sail from Miami Carnival Corp's
:09:00. > :09:07.704-passenger Adonia left The cruise comes after Cuba loosened
:09:08. > :09:10.its policy banning Cuban-born people Several Cuban-born passengers
:09:11. > :09:16.were among those aboard. Australia's third largest lender,
:09:17. > :09:20.Westpac bank, has reported a 3% rise in profits
:09:21. > :09:23.in the six months to March That's less than forecast
:09:24. > :09:27.and with interest rates at record lows it's being put down to growth
:09:28. > :09:43.in mortgages and corporate loans. The markets that are open today...
:09:44. > :09:47.There have been affected by the news we mentioned at the top of the show
:09:48. > :09:50.about manufacturing data out of China not being encouraging. Also
:09:51. > :09:54.one of the big reasons Japan is having such a tough time is because
:09:55. > :09:59.look at the yen versus the US dollar, extremely strong of late.
:10:00. > :10:12.That is really hitting shares listed in Tokyo.
:10:13. > :10:21.The government is considering new laws on how tips are
:10:22. > :10:24.A consultation document from the Business Secretary