Germany's chancellor goes to China to talk trade
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Germany's Chancellor goes to China to talk trade. Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. I'm Leanna Byrne, back for the next three days. Good morning. The German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, says there is a great opportunity to develop ties with China following a meeting with its leader, Xi Jinping. Merz is currently on his first visit to China, which is Germany's biggest trading partner, since becoming leader 10 months ago. Before the trip, he said there needs to be a fair competition between and jointly agreed rules between the two countries.
The BBC's Alice Adderley has more. Germany's also facing intense competition from China's electric car makers. Away from trade, the German chancellor aims to raise the conflict in Ukraine. He'll discuss Beijing's influence over Moscow with President Xi Jinping.
What opportunities does Germany see in its trade relationship with China?
Alice Adderley there. Now, let's see the numbers.
The price of gold is on the rise again. It's been trading at over $5,200 an ounce in markets in Europe this morning. UK carmaker Aston Martin says it's cutting 20% of its staff. The firm has been badly hit by US tariffs on overseas auto imports. And drinks giant Diageo has ruled out selling its share of brands Guinness and Moet Hennessy as it caught its outlook after a 2.8% drop in sales for the first half. Now, British retailers say the theft of chocolate from grocery stores is out of control in parts of the country. Some retailers now lock candy bars in transparent plastic boxes to make stealing them more difficult. They say stolen confectionery is resold to raise money for organised crime. One grocery group in the English Midlands says chocolate theft cost it nearly $340,000 last year, making it their most stolen product apart from alcohol.
From today, almost all visitors to the UK will need to apply for an ETA, that's an electronic travel authorisation, before they enter the country. It costs £16 or $21 and follows similar schemes already in place in the US and Australia. The EU will also bring in its own compulsory entry visa later on in the year. The UK government says it prevents those who are a threat from getting into the country, but some travel groups say it's an unnecessary burden on tourists. The BBC's Rick Kelsey reports.
I'm coming through airport passport security, a biometric scan, and I'm through. From now on, people from outside the UK coming through these gates will need to have a UK ETA, an electronic travel authorization. It costs £16, about US$20, and you'll need to apply three days before to guarantee you'll get it on time. Claire Irwin is travel editor for the Sunday Times in the UK.
We hear week on week about people who have been unable to board flights, have wasted huge amounts of money, and they just haven't understood fully the paperwork that they need to cross the border.
The European Union's new entry and exit scheme will come in from October. There are thousands of messages on travel forums you can read about people missing flights because, frankly, they didn't know about these new visas. just like video producer Owen Ephraim from South Wales.
So when I checked in to the flight in Toronto, they were like, you don't have an ESTA, you need one to board the flight. So I had to apply for one whilst in the queue to check in. I was then asked to sit on the side where I had to wait for the ESTA to be approved. It took about two hours. Luckily, I was like three hours early for the flight. And then once I got approved, they let me through and then I was rushed to security. They let me go through security with priority, but then I got through to immigration and that was a huge queue. And there were other people in the queue, like about to miss their flight. Owen, unlike many others, just made it.
There's also the problem of fraud and businesses making large profits off the new arrangements. Almost all of these is asked that people book directly from the government or official site of the country that you're visiting. But this has not stopped companies charging sometimes hundreds of dollars for doing it for them, even masking as official partners, which is what happened to Jasmine Gallant from New Brunswick in Canada.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–1:07
2
What opportunities does Germany see in its trade relationship with China?
1:07–5:04
3
How is Germany addressing competition from China's electric car industry?
5:04–5:32
4
What is the significance of the Ukraine conflict in the context of this meeting?
5:32–6:48