Wenwen Meng

Hong Kong stocks are expected to open lower on Thursday, pressured by a surge in oil prices on fears turmoil in Libya could spread to other oil exporters in the region, and declines in global markets.

China may not have been first to a launch social networking site, but it might be first to float one. Renren.com is eyeing an initial public offering in New York. Owner Oak Pacific is thought to want a valuation of $500 million. The potential for new internet darlings is huge, if they can avoid some old-school problems.

China will breed its own high-yield seeds and set up large seed companies to help ensure the country's food security in coming decades.

Mutual fund giant Fidelity is actively preparing to enter China by securing a trust company licence in one of the world's fastest-growing asset management market, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Technology services provider Digital China Holdings Ltd is bidding for the rights to sell Apple Inc's iPad and Research in Motion Ltd's tablet PC in China, its chief executive said.

In the muggy forest of central Liberia, a gang of workers is inching its way along a railway track, cut long and straight through an otherwise impenetrable mesh of trees and vines. The drone of insects is interrupted by a high-pitched drill and the clang of hammers as workers put the finishing touches to the perfectly aligned steel tracks.

China's ANTA Sports Products Ltd said it recorded 20 percent growth in order book value for the third quarter of 2011, suggesting optimism among distributors over sportswear industry prospects in the mainland.

Shares of Alibaba.com tumbled as much as 10 percent after an internal probe prompted resignations of its top executives and forced the company to clean up a vendor mess that defrauded buyers.

China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest mobile operator, and state-run Xinhua News Agency have jointly launched an Internet search engine, the companies said on Tuesday.

China has fined retail giants Carrefour SA and Wal-Mart Stores Inc a combined 9.5 million yuan ($1.5 million) for manipulating product prices in some of their stores, the country's top economic planner said on Tuesday.

China's central bank denied on Tuesday that the country has suspended plans to tailor reserve requirement ratios for Chinese banks as part of efforts to rein in rampant bank lending.

Temasek Holdings has hired former China International Capital Corp (CICC) investment banking head Ding Wei to lead its China operations, the Singapore state investor said late on Monday.

Panda fever showed few signs of dying down in Japan on Tuesday after the arrival in Tokyo of the country's latest pair of giant pandas from China.

China's environmental protection agency has vowed to curb heavy metal pollution in a bid to cut widespread industrial contaminants like lead that have poisoned children and sparked protests.

China should account for 8-9 percent of global mergers and acquisition activity this year, continuing close to its strong levels in 2009 and 2010, JPMorgan's head of China M&A said Tuesday.

China must find new ways to defuse unrest, the domestic security chief said, underscoring Beijing's anxiety about control after police quashed calls for gatherings inspired by uprisings in the Middle East.

The U.S. navy will continue to upgrade its military capabilities in the Pacific given its steadfast commitment to the region, a U.S. vice admiral said on Monday, while urging China's growing navy to avoid provocation.

China Everbright Bank may raise around $7 billion through a share sale in Hong Kong just six months after its Shanghai IPO, leading the way for more fundraising by smaller banks.

Jaguar and Land Rover is in talks with top Chinese sport utility vehicle maker Great Wall Motor Co about a potential China tie-up, two executives told Reuters on Monday.

China has shelved plans to tailor reserve requirements to individual banks as a way of keeping a tight leash on heavy lenders, local media reported on Monday.

China's Commerce Ministry said Chinese businesses faced damaging obstruction in efforts to invest in the United States after China's Huawei pulled out of bidding for U.S. company 3Leaf's assets following pressure from a Washington panel.

Several Chinese cities including Shanghai have followed Beijing in restricting purchases of multiple homes as the government keeps up its campaign to curb property speculation.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Saturday pointed to the problems China's tightly controlled currency poses for other developing economies and said Beijing still had further to go to let its currency rise.

China Overseas Land and Investment Ltd, the country's largest developer bymarket value, said it aims to record 20 percent growth in netprofit this year, betting that it can ride through governmentmeasures to cool the market.

Automakers in China shipped 16.2 percent more cars to dealers in January as they moved aggressively to replenish inventories that were nearly depleted after explosive sales in December.

China rejected plans to use real exchange rates and currency reserves to measures global economic imbalances, casting doubt on the ability of Group of 20 major economic powers to reach agreement at a meeting on Friday.

It's too early to be sure, but signs that China's current account surplus will keep shrinking as a share of national output could draw some of the venom from the debate on global economic imbalances preoccupying the G20.

Swedish carmaker Volvo, owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, has finalised its decision to make Volvo cars in southwestern China, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is helping partners in China improve child vaccines, roll out faster TB detection kits and make higher-yielding rice which it hopes can be used later in other parts of the world.