least 13 killed on monday including five people shot. five others were soldiers trying to defect. meanwhile, a u.n. spokesman says the arab league has asked for help. and pakistan supreme court has ordered the prime minister to appear at a contempt hearing on thursday. the judges want to know why he hasn't pursued corruption charngs. those are the headlines from cnn, the world's news later. world business today starts now. >> hello, welcome to "world business today." >> and i'm andrew stevens. thanks for joining us. science in a slow down, but china's enveeble growth continues sparking a rally on the markets. >> and the captain of a wrecked cruise ship will today face judge of possible criminal charges, including mans laugter. >> plus, cnn uncovers widespread child slavery on cocoa farms in ivory coast. well, markets in asia are rallying after chinese economic data exceeded forecast today. the country's economic growth is slower than it's been for the past two and a half years. despite stagnation in many western economies. in the fourth quarter of last year, china's gdp growth slowed to 8.9%, better than the 8.7% that analysts have been expecting but continuing the downward pattern that you see there. now, growth the full year measured 9.2% and that was down from 10.4% in 2010. the drop is partially down to spiraling inflation. and on that score, it appears to have succeeded with both the consumer and producer price indices rising much more slowly in december. now in a position to refuel the economy by easing policy. well, certainly investors seem confident on that point. take a look at the reaction. the shanghai constant snapping a four-day losing streak in pretty strong style, too. and that came as other chinese data including retail sales and industrial output surpassed expectations. the shanghai compass up more than 4%. hong kong up by 3%. now, europe's difference to the s&p credit rating down on friday also helping to firm up the mood in this part of the world, as well. the key factor in that turn around. so looking at the market, hong kong up by 3.24%. it was the banks and the commodity companies who got the real big hit today. gives you an idea of the expectations that china growth will be a little stronger than expects. nina? >> and it certainly does. investors clearly like what they see. but whichever way china looks at it, gdp is on the way down. cnn spoke to one economist from hsbc who remains weak momentum. you did say this, china should crucially avoid a hard landing. and that is on the provee sew, though, that beijing proceeds with its policy of easing monetary policy. a credit swiss analyst is cautioned with the promising signs saying on the other hand, we would warn against taking this month's sales data at its face value as this year's chinese new year takes place earlier than usual and boosting december and january sales figures. >> so we may have to wait a few months to see the true fruits of beijing's economic policy. but for an overview of what to expect, joined now by j.p. morgan chase, how do you do? >> happy new year to you, andrew. >> now, we have been hearing for the last two months or so how china has switched its focus from fighting inflation to promoting growth. are we going to see that growth promotion happen soon? how long is it really going to take? >> well, china has already started monitor easing back in november of 2011. throughout 2012, we're expecting more measures to come out of beijing, for example, they will continue to cut the bank reserve requirement ratio. in addition, we're expecting china to adopt a much more proactive fiscal policy in the form of tax cuts. >> well, the economy is gently deceleratiing. in some areas, for example, in the smes, we're seeing quite a lot of deceleration. in other areas, for example, the deceleration is much -- is what the government has desired for. so exports are slowing. so this time around, we're going to see the central government using a much more nuance policy compared to three years ago when they really launched a very large-scale spending program. >> so what do you think the profile, then, of the chinese economic growth is going to be in 2012? it will continue to weaken before it gets stronger? >> that's right. in the first quarter, 2012, we may see growth rates dip below 8%. for the whole year, 2012, especially starting in the second half, we will expect growth to resume the steady pace of growth. so for the full year, we're still expecting 8.2% growth. >> 8% has always been seen by a lot of commentators as the number which the authorities focus on. go below 8% and you don't have enough growth to create enough jobs. is that still the case? >> as the economy grows larger in size, we cannot expect the growth rate to remain above 8%. so 7-8% i would expect to be the acceptable number going forward. >> okay. two major factors facing china, one external, one internal. let's talk external, first. exz ports. what sort of impact is this slow down in europe going to have? if you look at that final quarter, it obviously hasn't had as big an impact? >> for 2011, net exports became a drag on growth. so if you look at a contribution to china gdp growth in 2011, all the growth came from internal sources. and in the new year, we're expecting further slow down in exports. and in some months, we may actually see a deficit. so, therefore, it makes it all the more important for china to find a growth driver internally, i.e., consumption. so therefore, more measures will come out of beijing in the coming few months. >> one of the key nations -- or boosters for domestic consumption would be the property market. if property is falling sharply, people aren't inclined to dry. is there a chance that we could see that property will burst rather than a slow down which could lead to a hard landing, still. >> i think the public sector is deflating. we don't see the bubble bursting. in some areas, we're seeing probably prices gently declining. transaction volumes have come down a lot. at this juncture, beijing is not prepared to basically slow down the measures they announced on the property sector. they will keep the measures in place for some time until we see property markets gently deflate. >> how further would they need to fall, do you think, just very quickly. >> i think starting in the third quarter of this year, they will begin to ease some policies, especially to first time home buyers. but they're still trying to dampen the investment. >> okay. always good to speak to you. >> thank you very much. >> andrew still pulls another blow to the euros, this time by cutting the rating of its bail out fund. the fund's new aa rating, plus rating, i should point out, because it does have a positive outlo outlook, still means that it may not be able to operate as effectively to bail out nations in need. s&p says that the essf says that the ratings agency strips two of the big of their triple a ratings. so this step widely expected but coming just about a trading day after news of those nine downgrades we had on friday evening. now, after a positive day on the markets on monday, things still seem to be looking up into this first hour of trading. we've got some pretty significant days coming from paris yesterday after the french government managed to sell a successful bond sale, about $11 billion worth of assets. but a lot of this is lifted by things going on in china. some of these countries here, andrew, as you and i will know, are huge exporters to china. >> absolutely. that's the switch. it's now looking at china for their groout. still ahead, the captain of a wrecked cruise ship is going to kourlt. we'll also take a look at the likely effect of the tragedy on the broader cruise industry. you're watching "world business today." [ male announcer ] let's level the playing field. take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up $600 when you open an account. the captain of the wrecked cruise ship is due to appear in an italian court today. he'll face question with the following possible charges: manslaughter causing a ship wreck and abandoning ship while passengers were still on board. let's remind you that the total death toll now remains at six. but 26 people in total are still missing. it's now almost four days since the shop ran aground. rescue workers currently being hampered by the capsized cruise line is shifting in the shallow waters. the enormous gash in the hull is still visible above the water line, as you can see in those pictures there. now, when you just think about what we've seen in those kind of outstanding pictures from this particular incident, the drama takes another twist. what we're going the show you now is live video -- excuse me, video that happened overnight. this is what we're showing at the moment. it's a controlled explosion you should be able to see going on as they try and solve the situation and get to certain parts of the vessel. the stricken vessel that could perhaps harbor some of those 29 people. we saw explosive flares taken place off the coast of the island where the coast guards are still diving day and night to try and find any survivors there. here, you can also see the sight of the boulder wedged into the hull of the costa concordia. as you can see there, they're winching one of the survivors, i believe that was a crew member found aboard still alive with a serious leg injury. he was wenched aboard the helicopter on sunday afternoon. so just to remind you, this is the latest we have of the costa concordia. we' we're showing you pictures of how close it is to the show. 29 people still remain missing after that ship ran aground on friday evening. six people, so far, have died. these, i believe, are live pictures. this is the costa concordia shifting. one vessel was about to fall over a sea cliff on the seabed. at that point, the rescue operation had to be suspended for about several hours. i believe the divers have now gotten back in. but there are still 29 people missing and so far, the death toll stands at six. >> yeah, no matter how many times you see those pictures, they just do not lose their impact. now, the u.s.-based carnival corporation has fully owned costa cruises since 2000. carnival's stock is listed in new york where because of a holiday on monday, its share price has yet to react. but it is also listed in london and its stock there is now trading, as you see, just a fraction lower at 1,875 pence. it's also cost the chairman, as well, 450 million tla$450 milli personal fortune has been wiped off by that fall in the share price. harrison is ranked the 169th richest person in the world. he owns the nba basketball team, the miami heat, nina. >> well, andrew, of course, a ship wreck like this one off of the italian coast can damage a cruise company in a number of ways, well beyond its share price. and we have to remember the human tragic aspect, as well. exactly how it's managed to stay afloat through the good times and also the bad. >> reporter: when it comes to cruise companies, carnival rules the waves. with more than 100 ships and nearly half the market, the angelo american firm trades under names such as carnival, princess, cunard and its italian arm, costa cruises. costa has 15 ships, including the stricken concordia. will this deadly accident hurt the industry? this ship is only a small part of the carnival empire. but it's all about confidence. >> we have to reassure everybody that now is a good time to book a cruise and that it is a very safe and secure holiday. >> reporter: in its statement to the stock market, carnival corporation said the ship will be out of service for much of this year, if not longer. >> ships have been refloated from much worse positions, even from underwater. and there will be experts, involves, obviously some of the big salvage companies will be fighting over the contract for it. but, yeah, it's salvageable. >> reporter: carnival says it has insurance for the damage to the vessel and for injuries to third parties. but not for loss of the use of the concordia. it estimates 2012 earnings will be hit by as much as $95 million. and those passenger numbers for carnival increased last year, its net income fell slightly as higher fuel costs cut into profits. some bookings may be lost after the concordia disaster, but those who have already booked on other ships won't get their money back. >> they won't be subject to a refund because this incident is so rare and isolated that we're totally confident in all of our safety systems, our crew, their training and the supervision of what happens on board our ships that all the listeners can be totally assured that cruising is a very safe and secure holiday and will continue to be so. >> reporter: in the short term, images like these may deter some passengers. but the industry expects that as memories fade, so will anxiety about taking to the high seas. jim boulden, cnn, london. >> and still to come here on "world business today" the true cost of chocolate. as part of the cnn freedom project, we explore the unsavory world of child labor in ivory coast's cocoa industry. that's just ahead. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're 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little has changed. in a cnn investigation, david mckenzie traveled deep into the interior of ivory coast. his documentary premiers on friday. but, for now, here is a preview. >> reporter: on this farm, we find abdul. he survived three years of work. he's just ten. he earns no wages for his work, he says, just food, the occasional tip from the owner and the torn clothes on his back. put in the simplest of terms, abdul is a child slave. we move away from the group so he can speak more freely. and through our translater, he tells us his story. >> if he had a choice, he wouldn't work. >> reporter: abdul says he's from a neighboring country. when his father die died a stranger brought him to ivory kois. he tells us he doesn't even know what cocoa is for. he's never tasted chocolate. we met yaku on the same farm, also from the same place. >> translator: my mother brought me when my father died, he tells me. yaku insists he's 16. but he looks much i don't thinker. his legs bear machote scars from hours of clearing the bush. the emotional scars seem much deeper. >> translator: i wish i could just go to school, he says, to learn to read and write. but yaku says he's never spent a day in school. >> that's a clip there from cnn's freedom project. now, we have seen some signs of improvement from chocolate companies. nestle announced in november, it's sending independent experts to investigate its cocoa supply chains there. they have since told cnn that they have an assessment team in place there because they're frustrated by the systems currently in place. now, nestle's efforts are already committed to having all of its cocoa sustainablely harvest and certified by independent organizations by the year 2020. mars will partner with fair trade in 2012 to satisfy its brand in the united kingdom and in ireland. and the progress on this issue is literally bar by bar, brand by brand. cadbury has certification on all of its dairy milk bars and one of its most popular bars here in the u.k. >> but the problem is that the message just doesn't seem to be getting through. in ivory coast, just 3% of communities growing cocoa have been reached by schemes like that. and that's according to a new report commissioned by the u.s. government. british quest looks at why progress is so slow. >> there is a dark connection between the chocolate we enjoy and the child slavery in west africa. researchers have documented disturbing signs of forced labor and trafficking. children held against their will, many never paid. ivory coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa. the u.s. state department estimates there are more than a hundred thousand children involed in the worst forms of child labor on cocoa farms throughout the country. >> this is trafficking. a child being forced to work, it doesn't get worse than that. it can't be swrus about are there enough of them. it's a serious abuse. >> reporter: according to an indust industry-wide agreement signed on september 19th, 2001, this should not be the case. the harken angle protocol was written to put an end to forced child labor in chocolate by 2005. that deadline had to be extended to 2008 and again to 2010. it's now been more than ten years. >> if these companies aren't willing to come forward and work with us and put some more money forward to get these kids out of the cocoa fields, i think they may face a really big backlash. >> kevin bales with free the slaves signed the protocol in 2001 along with leading company ins the cocoa market. >> i am disappointed. to a large part, it's a resource question. while several million dollars a year are moving onto work in the ground, it's not enough to meet the size of the problem. >> cnn has spoken to the top chocolate and cocoa companies. inviting them to be on our air. they either declined or did not respond. those that did passed us along to the international cocoa initiative. the ici was set up by the protocon to bring all parties together to address the worst forms of child labor in the supply chain. >> the progress isn't enough. and that's why we've joined force with other partners to this new framework of action. and we