China expects economic growth of 7.5% this year as it looks for more sustainable expansion, prepares for a change in leadership and rides out a global slowdown. Premier Wen Jiabao unveiled the target at the start of the annual National People's Congress.
The World Bank has warned China’s government that it must relax its grip on industry and move towards a free-market economy.
China's exports fell in January the first decline in more than two years, raising fresh concerns about the impact of a global slowdown on its economy. Exports dipped 0.5% from a year earlier hurt by sluggish demand and factories being shut during the Lunar New Year.
The head of China’s 410 billion dollars sovereign wealth fund CIC brushed aside a call by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to buy European government debt, saying such investments were difficult for long-term investors.
Economic growth in China could drop by half this year in the event of a sharp recession in Europe, the IMF predicted on Monday in a report that underscored the importance of global trade to the world's second largest economy.
While Western and Arab countries responded with outrage after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez considered the veto as “very positive”.
Brazil’s aircraft manufacturer Embraer has delivered a Legacy 650 to celebrity Jackie Chan for the Chinese market. The aircraft is painted with a dragon logo.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday the Asian giant had neither the ability nor the intention to buy Europe, amid concerns over growing Chinese investment in debt-stricken Euro zone economies.
China banned a giant new class of ship from its ports on Tuesday, a move that checks efforts by mining giant Vale SA to cut the cost of shipping iron ore to its largest market and risks raising trade tensions with Brazil.
China will face bigger challenges in the Year of the Dragon its Prime Minister Wen Jiabao warned Saturday, as he pledged economic reforms to improve wealth distribution, state media reported.