"Today is a landmark moment for Britain. It shows what we can do as an independent trading nation."

That was Liz Truss, the UK's international trade minister, after she met with Japan's foreign minister Motegi Toshimitsu in Tokyo to sign what is being lauded as the UK's first major trade deal since officially leaving the European Union in January.

Having originally been held up by discussions over how much blue cheese Japan would import, the deal is done and intriguingly includes a Japanese commitment to support the UK's entrance to the Trans-Pacific Partnership… a regional free trade organization. A more cynical onlooker than myself might accuse the idea of being a bit ironic, seeing as the UK has just left the EU and its... free trade area. 

Elsewhere, today has brought good news for Huawei, with the Chinese telecoms firm revealing its latest financial statement and confirming it has continued to grow despite global challenges surrounding 5G operations. 

And Mercedes Benz sales in China have led to similar good news for German car group Daimler. It has now amended upward its end-of-year profit expectations to be in line with 2019. 

In today's interview we speak to the CEO of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, about the new pandemic funding for those working in the sector. And for a different view of that sector across Europe, our graphic today shows which customers are reviving the European hotel market. It's not the usual holidaymakers. 

Happy reading, 

Patrick Atack

Digital business correspondent 

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Huawei, the leading Chinese telecoms network and smartphone producer, grossed $100 billion in revenue in the January-September period, up 9.9 percent year-on-year, according to its latest release. The figure was down from 24.4 percent growth over the same period last year. The net profit margin for the nine months was 8 percent

The UK's National Audit Office said fraudsters may have stolen nearly $4 billion, with criminals claiming for fake companies making up the majority of that amount. However the office also warned that more than a billion dollars may have been claimed by employers that did not actually need pandemic payment protection funds. 

The UK has signed a trade agreement with Japan in what is being lauded as the first "major" post-Brexit deal. The deal was loosely agreed in September, but the details – such as removing tariffs from Japanese cars imported to the UK – have now been formally settled. 

U.S. fashion retailer Gap is considering closing its European stores and distribution center after posting a loss of $41 million for the three months to August. "We will look at transferring elements of the business to interested third parties," Gap's head of global operations, Mark Breitbard, said. 

Intel Corp reported its margins tumbled in the latest quarter as consumers bought cheaper laptops and pandemic-stricken businesses and governments clamped down on data center spending. Intel, the dominant provider of processor chips for PCs and data centers, has struggled with manufacturing delays, despite booming chip sales, but customers want lower-priced chips rather than Intel's pricier and high-performance products. 

Plans to allow self-driving cars on UK motorways by 2021 have had the brakes applied by insurers, after researchers commissioned by the Association of British Insurers labeled plans "hugely wrong." Adding: "It simply isn't safe enough and its introduction will put UK motorists' lives at risk." 

The European Parliament has ruled that vegetarian and vegan "alternative" products are allowed to use names like "veggie burger" and "vegan sausages," after lawmakers rejected farmers' argument that the terms would confuse customers. However, dairy-associated words such as yoghurt and cheese will not be allowed to describe non-dairy alternatives like soy "milk". 

French car maker Renault said its sales have recovered from the pandemic-induced slump in the first half of the year, and new CEO Luca de Meo said the company expected to return to positive cashflow by the end of 2020. The company reported a huge surge of 157 percent in sales of its electric "Zoe" model in Europe helped the recovery. 

Another car maker to release an updated profit expectation is German firm Daimler, which owns Mercedes Benz and other brands. It said a record 24 percent jump in demand in China for Mercedes cars prompted the re-evaluation, which places end-of-year profits at the same level as 2019, rather than the prior forecast of a drop. The firm said Chinese families were spending money on luxury goods at home instead of taking holidays in Europe, due to travel restrictions. 

Low-cost airlines Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling and Blue Panorama have all been forced to offer refunds to passengers booked on flights that were then cancelled due to the pandemic. The airlines have made the decision after an investigation was started by the Italian state antitrust regulator, which said the choice to request a voucher instead of a refund should be left entirely to the consumer. The investigation continues. 

Finally, as Brexit rumbles on and negotiators prepare for the final stretch, the regional government in Flanders in Belgium has discovered a 17th century document which they believe could be the key to finding a deal for its fishing fleet. In 1666, Britain's King Charles II gave 50 Flemish boats access to British waters for the rest of time. Flanders' finance minister Hilde Crevits said: "We will use that [document] if necessary."

WATCH: Heard about the restaurant that crossed a border? A melting glacier means the Rifugio Guide del Cervino has slipped from Italy into Switzerland. Or has it? Nobody is quite sure.

Kate Nicholls is CEO of UK Hospitality, the trade group that represents bars, restaurants and cafes in the country. She spoke to CGTN Europe to give the industry's reaction to the new pandemic support set out by the finance minister, Rishi Sunak. 

Do you think this new assistance goes far enough? 

This is undoubtedly a very helpful lifeline. We had about 660,000 job losses lined up in UK hospitality over the course of the rest of the year. Today, that's put a halt to those job losses in the immediate instance. So we'll have to wait and see.

The new tiers of restrictions mean restaurants can remain open - but customers can only visit with members of their household. Is that sustainable?

Businesses in Tier Two had a real squeeze on revenues, no help or support, and we're better off being closed. And actually, what [Sunak] has done is come back and provide a lifeline to give a small amount of subsidy for people in employment and to keep those businesses viable. 

Sunak said the government can't save every job and every business. Do you think is it inevitable that some businesses simply won't survive? 

We're not going to save all of those businesses. All of those jobs in hospitality and other sectors of the economy. But these are viable businesses. These are viable jobs. And they will come back as soon as these restrictions are lifted. So this is a subsidy and an investment for the future.