"We would never take decisions that threaten our national security or the security of our Five Eyes partners".

The big news today is the UK government's decision to allow Chinese mobile giant Huawei to operate a limited percentage of the UK's 5G network - which foreign minister Dominic Raab said would not have happened if they believed it was a security concern.

This was against the advice of the UK's closest ally, the U.S. which had warned allowing access would threaten the UK's sovereignty. President Trump is yet to weigh in on the issue, though he may be preoccupied with his ongoing impeachment trial.

In today's briefing, we bring you an interview with Jeremy Thompson, executive vice president at Huawei, and his reaction to the news.

Elsewhere, there's a row brewing over trains in Germany as Deutsche Bahn is reportedly refusing to complete a transaction for new trains over "faults".

And finally, we take a look at how Kobe Bryant became one of the world's richest athletes - hint: it wasn't just basketball.

Don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues to sign up for Global Business Daily, every weekday at 17:30 GMT.

Happy reading,

Patrick Atack
Digital business correspondent

The UK will allow Huawei a 'limited role' in building the nation's 5G mobile network, with a 35 percent cap on "high-risk vendors'" involvement.  The restriction means Huawei will only be allowed to supply antenna and other parts of the transmission equipment, not the central kit that stores and controls the data.
 

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce says it's working to guarantee supplies of daily necessities and medical goods across China. The ministry is ordering local departments to work under central government plans to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.
 

Planemaker Airbus has agreed to settle corruption and bribery cases in the UK and France, with the sum expected to reach several billion dollars.  Airbus reportedly reached an agreement with the UK Serious Fraud Office to avoid prosecution, if they pay the large fine.
 

Six unnamed banks in the eurozone have fallen short of the ECB capital requirements. 109 banks opened their books to the central bank, two of which have been advised to take remedial action.
 

It's been a better than expected year for fans of the bright orange fizzy drink IRN BRU - its manufacturer A.G. Barr has adjusted its pre-tax profit to $48.63 million, a gain on original estimates but down from $58.7m in 2018.
 

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn is refusing to buy 25 trains (worth $440m) from Canadian firm Bombardier due to technical faults, according to German reports.

Watch: Fishing and territorial waters were a big issue in the Brexit election - but now fishermen are sailing into uncharted waters - CGTN looks at the transition situation, which comes into effect on Friday, January 31.

We feel assured by this result today - we're pleased to continue our work in the UK

Jeremy Thompson, Huawei executive vice president, sat down with CGTN's Juliet Mann to discuss the impact of the long-awaited decision.

So after months of will they, won't they, now you're being embraced by the UK government to a degree. Well, how does that feel?

"We feel assured by this result today and the fact that the government, after many months of looking at the evidence, has come out and supported Huawei in the 5G network here in the UK.

So for us and our customers, we're really pleased that we can continue to work with them and roll out 5G in the UK.

Do you see it as a win?

"I guess we see it as good news because we are able to continue with what we have already started. In terms of the 5G network, we're already in the UK networks. We're pleased that we can continue.
             
There are limitations. Can you live with only being able to have a 35 percent market share in non-core elements?

"We focus on the non-core elements. That's our market. And perhaps I should explain what we're talking about here. Everyone's very familiar with mobile phones.

But actually, we're not talking about mobile phones here. What we're talking about is base stations, which are the aerials that go on top of buildings and on top of hills that connect people's phones to the network.

We provide those aerials.

Some might say President Trump is going to be furious about this - what is Huawei doing to allay these concerns?

"This is a decision made in the U.K. for the U.K. based on evidence that the U.K. has been working with us on. We can provide our source code, which is reviewed by the U.K. government. So the U.K. government is very informed and that's why they've made this decision today.

What impact do you think this decision might have on other parts of the world, other parts of Europe which are still deciding?

"We're very optimistic they will come to a similar conclusion. They might have fewer restrictions on Huawei. But in the rest of the world is deciding and we're quite optimistic that we will have a significant part to play in most geographies.

There are rules out there concerning Chinese companies. Might there be a situation in the future when you would be compelled to hand over data, in which case, how can you guarantee the privacy and security of your customers' data? 

"I think the first thing to point out is that we do not run the networks. We do not own the equipment. We sell the equipment to carrier customers.

So here in the UK, there'll be big names like BT and Vodafone. They run the network. Once we've sold them the equipment, they run that network. We have no access to their network.

[Customer data] is not something that we can get access to. That's the first thing I would say.

The second thing I would say is, is that some of the rules which have been spoken about, all the rules which have been spoken about, do apply only in China. And they're very similar to the rules that we have here in the UK in terms of U.K. companies and in the U.S. and elsewhere. But they don't apply to. Chinese citizens and non-Chinese citizens outside China.

We've been in the UK for nearly 20 years now and providing network solutions for 15 years. And that's how we've made our name and that's why our customers continue to buy from us".   

Kobe Bryant, perhaps the world's most famous basketball player, was killed in a helicopter crash this week. He was said be worth at least $350 million - but how did he become the richest basketball star ever seen?