CHINA

An ache has hit the belly of investors who feasted on initial public offerings in Asia, in a sign the primary equity window that saw a big revival two quarters ago is beginning to quickly shut.

China should roughly halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to keep the world on a safe climate path, the head of the U.S. delegation at U.N. climate talks in Barcelona said on Thursday.

Central banks with trillions of dollars in reserves that are already stepping up euro and yen purchases will likely continue doing so in coming years, driven by worries over the stability of the greenback.

Dow Chemical Co and Shenhua Group, China's largest coal miner, will reportedly move ahead with their planned $10 billion coal-to-chemical project in Shaanxi province after a delay of at least one year.

Toyota Motor Corp's surprise quarterly profit and halving of its annual loss forecast failed to convince investors the world's No.1 carmaker is back on track, as government subsidies peter out and a strong yen takes its toll.

Toyota Motor Corp's surprise quarterly profit and halving of its annual loss forecast were not enough to convince investors that the world's No.1 carmaker had escaped the worst, as government subsidies peter out and a strong yen takes its toll.

Toyota Motor Corp reported a surprise quarterly profit and slashed its annual loss forecast by more than half as sales and cost cutting beat its forecasts, putting it on track to follow Japanese rivals into the black next year.

Asian shares dipped on Thursday, and the dollar fell after the Federal Reserve vowed to keep rates near zero for an extended period and said the recovery of the world's biggest economy would be sluggish.

China Unicom, the country's No.2 mobile carrier, said on Tuesday that it had already signed up more than 1 million 3G subscribers, but analysts said that handset subsidies and marketing costs could weigh on profit margins.

The general insurance industry may not be able to cope with the increased frequency and severity of floods and typhoons brought about by climate change, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said on Wednesday.

The abruptly scrapped sale of GM's Opel is not the first example of a deal born of the financial crisis being undone by the economic recovery, and probably won't be the last.

Adidas AG, the world's second-largest sports goods maker, is confident on consumer demand heading into the Christmas season and ahead of next year's soccer World Cup, after posting an in-line third quarter.

The Walt Disney Co has received Beijing's nod to build a theme park in Shanghai, in a major advance for the media and entertainment company in the tough China market ahead of President Obama's first China visit.

China Merchants Securities Co won regulatory approval for an initial public offering in Shanghai that could fetch $2 billion, setting off a return of big IPOs to the mainland stock market after share prices stabilised.

General Motors' move to scrap the sale of its Opel unit and raised forecasts from Nissan Motor Co lifted confidence in the global auto industry's recovery on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to sell half of its holding in Shineway Group, China's top meat processor, to a Chinese fund for about $150 million, earning roughly five times its investment from the landmark 2006 deal, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Merck & Co and Schering-Plough Corp said their $41.1 billion merger will be completed later on Tuesday, marking the close of the second huge deal in the pharmaceutical industry in recent weeks.

China is pushing to complete its first commercial-scale power plant that can capture and store emissions, but must do more research on how and where to lock away carbon dioxide if the technology is to get wide roll-out.

Censorship of the Internet is open to challenge at the World Trade Organization as it can restrict trade in services delivered online, a forthcoming study says.

Entrepreneurs are finding the road to Internet riches in China increasingly rough, facing a thicket of regulatory issues, stiff competition and a frontier mentality that leads to frequent underhanded practices.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's statement on interest rates and the economy.