US President Barack Obama said that China has understood his “blunt” warnings against cyber-hacking as he credited new leader Xi Jinping with accepting more global responsibility for Beijing. “We’ve had very blunt conversations about this. They understand, I think, that this can adversely affect the fundamentals of the US-China relationship,” Obama told “The Charlie Rose [...]

Secrets were revealed by former security agency contractor Edward Snowden, whose whereabouts are unknown after he fled to Hong Kong. China called on the US to explain a surveillance programme that was revealed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, whose whereabouts the White House said remain unknown after he fled to Hong Kong. [...]

UN leader Ban Ki-moon will launch talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Tuesday, with North Korea and Syria set to top the agenda. Ban is set to meet with President Xi Jinping and other top leaders during a three-day stay in Beijing. “He is going to be meeting the president, the premier, senior officials. [...]

China’s foreign ministry on Monday dismissed as “groundless” suspicions that former US contractor Edward Snowden spied for Beijing. “I think it is completely groundless,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying when asked at a regular news briefing if Snowden spied for China. They were the first concrete comments from Beijing on Snowden. Last week, Hua [...]

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng called on the United States on Friday to ensure his family in China would be treated fairly, saying his imprisoned nephew was not receiving proper medical care from Chinese authorities, whom he accused of “hooligan tactics.” Chen, who made international headlines last year when he escaped house arrest and spent 20 [...]

Since Starboard Value LP was spun off as a separate hedge fund just over two years ago it has been fast gaining a reputation for aggressive shareholder activism, pushing for change in household names including AOL (AOL.N) and Office Depot Inc (ODP.N). Initially investing in small cap value companies, Starboard quickly gained a reputation in [...]

A senior nuclear negotiator from North Korea will visit Beijing for a strategic dialogue this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Monday. The planned trip by the first vice foreign minister of North Korea, Kim Kye-gwan, follows his country’s proposal on Sunday to hold senior-level talks with Washington to discuss easing tensions and eventually removing [...]

Some are calling it “bigger than Enron” and “a bit of a Ponzi scheme.” A recent ruling by the Supreme People’s Court, the highest court in China, raises an important question: Is the future in question for more than half of the 200 Chinese companies listed on the New York and Nasdaq stock exchanges? Earlier [...]

Thirty years after Japan’s arrival as an economic powerhouse, the country’s industrial and economic decline is palpable. China could be on the same trajectory, says Satyajit Das. Despite a history of conflict and competition, China and Japan share a contiguous geography and development models. China may also share Japan’s economic fate. Japan’s post-war economic recovery [...]

A China-based supercomputer has leapfrogged rivals to be named the world’s most powerful system. Tianhe-2, developed by the government-run National University of Defence Technology, topped the latest list of the fastest 500 supercomputers, by a team of international researchers. They said the news was a “surprise” since the system had not been expected to be [...]

Anthony Bolton, one of the UK’s best-known and most successful fund managers, is to retire from running the Fidelity China Special Situations investment trust, admitting it had proved more difficult to make money from China than he had anticipated. Bolton came out of semi-retirement – at his request – in 2010 to set up and [...]

China said it will hold this week talks with the European Union in a bid to resolve a dispute over solar panels and other business issues, as tensions between the two risk escalating into a trade war. The two sides have “tentatively decided” to hold the annual ministerial-level meeting of the joint economic and trade [...]

China is seeing slower economic growth. Concerns are building over a massive credit bubble, and some say it is no longer an engine of global growth. Excess capacity – in which demand for products is less than potential supply – continues to be one of China’s biggest problems. An excellent piece by Jamil Anderlini in [...]

Rogue US intelligence tech Edward Snowden issued a defiant rebuke to his critics in Washington on Monday and warned more leaks were on the way, declaring: “Truth is coming and it cannot be stopped.” The 29-year-old former contractor for the National Security Agency dismissed allegations he was a traitor or a Chinese agent, and insisted [...]

A senior North Korean official who has been the country’s negotiator at denuclearisation talks will visit Beijing this week, China said on Monday, although analysts were sceptical Pyongyang was about to make concessions on its nuclear programme. On Sunday, North Korea offered negotiations with Washington to ease tensions after threatening to wage war on the [...]

Belt-tightening in Japan’s diplomatic service is cutting the quality of canapes on offer abroad, the Foreign Ministry has said, leading to fears Tokyo is losing the battle of the buffets to Beijing. Diplomats in Tokyo say China appears to be ramping up its spending on its missions while Japanese diplomats are being forced to scrimp, [...]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose during the first five months of this year, the government announced Tuesday, paced by strong increases from the European Union and the United States. Incoming FDI, which excludes financial sectors, rose 1.0 percent to $47.6 billion from January through May, the Commerce Ministry announced. It was also up [...]

China launched its first pilot carbon emissions exchange on Tuesday, though plans for a nationwide roll out and efforts to apply the scheme to some polluting heavy industries could be undermined by a slowdown in the world’s No.2 economy. High-emission industries such as aluminium and steel are likely to resist higher costs as they are [...]

China’s coal imports, including lignite, fell 3.9 percent in May from a month ago as worries over import policies, high overseas prices and weak local demand curbed buyers’ appetites, data from the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association showed. China is the top coal consumer and traders there said weak domestic demand and uncertainty over [...]

China’s house prices rose at the fastest pace this year in May from a year earlier, though the pace of gains eased from the previous month, highlighting the dilemma facing the central bank as it balances the need to support the economy against holding down housing inflation. Average new home prices in 70 major Chinese [...]

China’s shadow banking system is out of control and under mounting stress as borrowers struggle to roll over short-term debts, Fitch Ratings has warned. The agency said the scale of credit was so extreme that the country would find it very hard to grow its way out of the excesses as in past episodes, implying [...]

Chinese telecoms giant, Huawei, will hold its first global product launch, hoping to capture market share from the industry-leaders Apple and Samsung in the highly competitive smartphone market. The firm will launch its flagship smartphone, the Ascend P6, in London. Asia Business Report asked Andrew Milroy from the consultancy Frost and Sullivan if Huawei can [...]

China’s top milk producer China Mengniu Dairy Co. 2319.HK 0.00 percent Ltd is buying a majority stake in smaller rival Yashili International Holdings Ltd, 1230.HK 0.00 percent two people familiar with the transaction said. The deal will trigger a mandatory offer for shareholders in Hong Kong-listed Yashili, which has a market capitalisation of $1.5 billion. [...]

Daily average trading volume of yuan in Hong Kong jumped to a record in May, exceeding the volumes of Hong Kong dollars for the first time ever, indicating the yuan’s growing importance in international trade. Average daily yuan trading volume rose to a record 390 billion yuan ($63.61 billion) last month in Hong Kong, according [...]

China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has ordered companies in its most polluting industries to cut emissions by 30 per cent over the next four years. The directive, which will compel firms to improve their pollution control equipment and will fine those responsible for excessive emissions, is designed to defuse growing public anger [...]

China Southern considered buying a strategic stake in Qantas early this year as Asia’s largest airline searched for ways to boost passengers from one of its most important international markets. BusinessDay has learnt that the fast-growing Chinese airline made tentative steps towards acquiring a stake of 10 to 15 per cent in Qantas. It included [...]

China is pushing ahead with a sweeping plan to move 250 million rural residents into newly constructed towns and cities over the next dozen years – a transformative event that could set off a new wave of growth or saddle the country with problems for generations to come. The government, often by fiat, is replacing [...]

China’s advancing technological prowess has reached the point where is has overtaken Europe in the fields of space research and travel. Germany is also finding ways to assist the Asian nation’s missions. China’s latest space mission to dock with an orbiting space station began this week as three astronauts blasted into orbit on a 15-day [...]

Vale SA (VALE5), Brazil’s largest exporter, said further local currency depreciation could counter cost rises and a slowdown in Chinese iron-ore demand as it seeks to regain market share from Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP) The real, the worst-performing emerging-market currency in the past three months, probably will weaken to about 2.40 [...]

The agency said the scale of credit was so extreme that the country would find it very hard to grow its way out of the excesses as in past episodes, implying tougher times ahead. “The credit-driven growth model is clearly falling apart. This could feed into a massive over-capacity problem, and potentially into a Japanese-style [...]

China’s economic growth has come on the back of unparalleled coal use, unbreathable air and the unenviable title of being the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter. So as it prepares to launch its first pilot carbon market on Tuesday, there is intense speculation about the scheme’s likely impact, both domestically and whether it boosts China’s [...]

Edward Snowden has exposed not only US cyber-espionage but also political fault lines in Hong Kong that are deepening as the territory, a proud bastion of free speech and protest, chafes under Chinese rule. In retreating to Hong Kong and vowing to fight any extradition attempt, the former CIA analyst is testing its civil liberties [...]

Around 1,000 people have waded along the beachfront on Taiwan’s Kinmen island to mark the completion of a seven-year de-mining programme in an area that was once a frontline battleground with mainland China. Men and women rolled up their trousers Saturday and walked through the water after a clearance operation that underlined warming ties with [...]

Taiwan and China have reached an agreement to add another 13 Chinese cities to the free independent traveler (FIT) programme for Chinese tourists, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday. Currently, the programme only applies to Chinese travelling from Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjin, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Jinan, Xian, Fuzhou and Shenzhen. The bureau said that [...]

China granted licences to five overseas institutional investors in May, allowing them to buy Chinese stocks and bonds. The licences, under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, were awarded to investors including HFT Investment Management (HK) Ltd, HSBC Global Asset Management (Taiwan) Ltd and China Everbright Assets Management Ltd Overseas investors include Hong Kong [...]

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd, Japan’s top construction steel maker, will keep prices of key products unchanged in July for the fourth straight month amid rising supply from China and inventory adjustment at home. The pricing strategy of Tokyo Steel is closely watched by Asian rivals such as Korea’s POSCO and Hyundai Steel Co and [...]

China’s overnight funding rate fell to its lowest level in two weeks on Monday, as a severe liquidity strain afflicting the money market eased, but longer-term rates remained at historically high levels due a sharp decline in foreign capital inflows. The weighted-average, one-day bond repurchase rate dropped to 4.73 percent on Monday morning, down from [...]

Huaan Asset Management Co. aims to attract as much as $400 million in initial funding for one of China’s first two gold exchange-traded funds as a drop in prices attracts buyers in the second-biggest consumer of bullion. The product, to be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, will track the performance of spot contracts on [...]

China has pledged to hold local government leaders responsible for improving air quality, officials said, after heavy smog across China earlier this year stoked social discontent. The State Council, or cabinet, announced the move along with a range of other policies aimed at reducing emissions of pollutants – from forcing industries to install anti-pollution equipment [...]

China’s official army newspaper on Sunday branded the United States Internet surveillance programme exposed by former spy Edward Snowden as “frightening”, and accused the US of being a “habitual offender” when it comes to network monitoring. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily hit out at the US for implying that spying on citizens from other [...]

China’s cabinet approved new measures to combat air pollution on Friday, in the latest step by China’s new leadership to address the country’s enormous environmental problems, with pollution a key source of rising social discontent in China. The government also promised to support China’s troubled solar power industry, despite problems with overcapacity and ongoing trade [...]

Chen Guangcheng, the dissident legal advocate whose escape from house arrest to the American Embassy in Beijing last year provoked a diplomatic crisis, said he was being forced to leave New York University over concerns that his activism was harming the university’s relationship with China. In a statement released Sunday, Chen said university officials were [...]

On Friday, China’s Ministry of Finance sold only 9.53 billion yuan of government bills, far less than the 15 billion yuan offered. It was the first failed finance ministry auction since July 2011. To add insult to injury, Beijing had to pay 3.76 percent on the 273-day bills, higher than the 3.14 percent yield on [...]

Three Chinese astronauts are currently visiting China’s Tiangong 1 space lab in orbit on the country’s fifth manned mission to space. The flight, which has been going smoothly so far, officials say, is a step toward the country’s long-term plan to build and operate a larger space station in the future. The three-astronaut team of [...]

China said it will deal “appropriately” with the European Union’s decision to challenge it at the World Trade Organisation after Beijing slapped duties on some steel products, in the latest salvo in the row between the two sides. Beijing in November imposed levies of between 9.7 percent and 11.1 percent on “high performance” stainless steel [...]

China’s city commercial lender Huishang Bank has hired five underwriters to arrange its planned $1-1.5 billion Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), IFR reported late on Friday. The five joint global co-ordinators managing the offer are: BOC International, Citic Securities International, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS, IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, said citing sources [...]

The decision by a former National Security Agency contractor to divulge classified data about the United States government’s surveillance of computers in mainland China and Hong Kong has complicated his legal position, but may also make China’s security apparatus more interested in helping him stay here, law and security experts said on Friday. The South [...]

A Chinese cash crunch is laying bare weaknesses in the country’s financial system, as rising borrowing costs hit banks amid worries over growth prospects in the world’s No. 2 economy. In a rare failure, China was unable to sell all of the government debt offered at auction on Friday, heightening concerns about a funding squeeze [...]

The historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Obama last week, billed as a chance to improve relations between the two superpowers, revolved largely around sensitive economic issues such as industrial cyber-espionage. Meanwhile, the news that the European Union has just lodged a complaint at the World Trade Organisation against China is just [...]

Two weeks ago, Jack Dongarra flew to Changsha, China for a meeting with researchers at the National University of Defense Technology, home to the country’s top supercomputing programme. He expected an update on their plans for a new mega-machine, but they had a little surprise for him: The system was already up and running. It’s [...]