03/07/2017 World Business Report

Today, Xi Jinping is in Moscow to meet the Russian President,

Trade is set to be top of the agenda as China looks to push its vision

But Beijing is also looking further afield for some fresh impetus.

From today, global investors can buy Chinese company debt

through an exchange for the very first time.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Russia for talks

Trade is set to be top of the agenda ahead of the G20 meeting of global

The visit will be President Xi's sixth tour to Russia since taking

And their meetings seem to be bearing fruit.

According to Chinese statistics, trade between the two increased

by over 26% in the first four months of the year,

Russia will be a key component of China's 'Belt and Road'

initiative - an ambitious multitrillion-dollar project that

will link Europe and Asia via the historic silk road.

Beijing is a major driving force behind the project -

the Chinese government has already agreed to help finance

the high-speed rail line between the two Russian cities

With me is Dr Daragh McDowell, principal Russia analyst

Is to do with the G20? It is very convenient for them to meet on the

way to Hamburg while sending a strong message from both Beijing and

Moscow's key point that this is a very Keilor leash on for both of

them, that these two nations are engaging with the world together a

little bit. Now, how much of that is actually the case in reality as

opposed to the symbolism is another question. Why would they want to do

that? For both sides, the reason something to be gained by combining

political clout for Russia, there is a sense that in order to balance

against the west or in order to resist a kind of European- American

unilateralism in global affairs with a balance with China. With China, it

is simply more the continual demonstration of economic and

political clout going from being a game player on the world stage to

being a game maker, again set up. Is this like them saying to the west

you are slightly yesterday 's power centre? We are today? To a certain

extent. The objectives between the two sides are different and this is

what causes a certain degree of tension. China is a rising power and

it's trying to make the rest of the world comfortable with that to avoid

the perception of a threat from increased Chinese power which is why

you have seen the focus on initiatives like 'Belt and Road'.

Russia is more of a declining power and is looking to find ways to

either stabilise or upset the global order in such a way that its

position is maintained. We will see that in the G20 also. China is going

to be focused on more positive gains with Europe in terms of how it

actually build the infrastructure, the economic engagement, whereas

Russia will be more about sanctions and Ukraine. Tomic about the silk

Road. -- tell me. This is definitely a Chinese project, Russia is a key

component of this. It is more the question in Central Asian states,

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, where there has long been a division of Labour

between the two sites with China recognising that Russia has a

security interest where. As the former Soviet power, and all these

sorts of things, where China has becoming more economically engaged.

Now, you know, it's coming to the point where China is more and more

supplanting Russia and it's a question of how you manage that

relationship. Everything you say seems to be that Russia is on the

back foot here. Is it trying to write a long on the coattails of

China or actually be an equal partner? This is the thing. In terms

of resources on loan, people, economy, Russia is vastly inferior

to China, it is an asymmetrical relationship and always will be. The

way that Putin has set up his own political regime, how he has

legitimised that, it doesn't really allow him to take an openly

subordinate position to say that we are the junior allies of the Chinese

and there is a lot to be had in presenting this as an equal

partnership of some sort but it isn't. It really isn't. Thank you

very much indeed. Let's stay with the world's

second largest economy. China has just opened

up its corporate bond market Starting from today,

institutions such as banks and hedge funds will be able to buy

Chinese company debt Our correspondent Juliana Liu

joins us from Hong Kong. How important is this? This is quite

significant. It's something that has been long-awaited. As you know,

China's on the market is the third-largest in the world with US

dollars, a larger actually than its stock market and before today,

foreigners owned only 2% of all of the debt generated out of China.

After this scheme launched, British banks said it had already completed

its first such transaction and when the online interface was unveiled at

the ceremony this morning, the announcer said there were 86 foreign

investors online and transacting. 86, is that a success? We don't know

yet. We won't for another few weeks or months. But it certainly

something we are watching and in of the opening, the Bont marking up for

bond market is impressive. If it risky? Do people worry about Chinese

corporate debt? There has been rumours and worries about the level

of debt in China. That's right. There are worries. And the quality

of Chinese debt. But this is simply an opening. The hope is as you may

recall MCSI, with the index provider decided whether or not to include

Chinese stocks, it had to consider whether or not overseas investors

had enough access to it was looking at stocks are not only stocks that

were accessible via Hong Kong so the hope is that will be a similar story

for Chinese bonds and the best Chinese bond available via Hong Kong

will be included in global indices in the weeks and months. Good to

talk to you. On Saturday, the President

of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte According the World Bank's latest

projections, the economy is set to expand between 6.5%

and 7% this year - this makes it the second fastest

growing country in Asia. Nestor Espenilla Junior is one

of the men responsible He's just been appointed as governor

of the country's central bank. Earlier he spoke to

the BBC's Rico Hizon. The one thing that disturbs all of

us is that yes, the risk roof, but the growth is not happening for all

of us so people are getting left behind, so that is why we need to

strengthen our policy across the broad front for the financial

sector, we are committed to promote greater national inclusion to

promote more access to this is very important for broadening the effects

of prosperity to the whole economy. In Asia you have Japan and China

with high debt levels, and you have the wreck that negotiations, the US

protectionism. Could this trigger another global financial crisis in

another shape or form? The world is certainly facing out a lot of

uncertainty. If you look at the data, we are doing quite well in

some key countries are beginning to seemingly mend their economies. But

that would -- element of uncertainty, we have identified that

his strong so it is a good reason not to be complacent and for us, we

have to forge ahead with the reforms that we have been doing for the last

decade or so. Nestor Espenilla Junior there on the governor of the

country's central bank. Iran says the French energy giant,

Total, is to sign a contract worth almost $5 billion to develop

an offshore gas field. It's Iran's biggest foreign deal

since most economic sanctions against the country

were lifted last year. India introduced a landmark reform

to its tax system over the weekend. The Goods and Services Tax replaces

hundreds of individual state-based levies, and is expected

to transform the nation of 1.2 billion people and its two trillion

dollar economy into a single market. But it was met with resistance

by opposition parties, who dismissed the launch event

as a "publicity gimmick". The British government has announced

it's withdrawing from a 50-year-old -- Don't forget you can get in touch

with me and some of the team Stay with us because we will be

doing the newspapers in about five minutes.

Figures out today show for the first time in nearly a decade,

more nurses and midwives are leaving the profession in the UK

than joining it - that's according to the Nursing