CHINA

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in China rose in January despite concerns over market barriers and rising labor costs in the country.

In an attempt to sabotage the pro-democracy protests, Iran has censored internet by slowing speed, electronic communication and the media has been gagged.

The number of international air passengers from mainland China will rise by an average of 10.8 percent per year through to 2014, making it the world's fastest-growing market, industry association IATA forecast.

China's provinces are drawing up plans to launch local carbon trading platforms in the next five years, but as caution prevails in Beijing, none of the ideas are likely to create products of interest to overseas buyers.

China is now the world's second largest economy, but hundreds of millions of its people still rely on fouled water that will cost billions of dollars to clean.

China announced a shake-up of its rare earths industry on Wednesday, vowing reasonable quotas on mining and exports to bring order to the small but strategic sector where its dominance has spooked foreign buyers.

China is likely to fail in its drive for state-owned steel giants to swallow small mills and create iron ore super buyers to wring better prices from leading sellers Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

China's central bank on Wednesday denied a report that it has kicked off a pilot programme to liberalise bank deposit rates.

Asia's first ever snow polo tournament went into its second day on Wednesday at China's newest and largest polo club, with six top global teams promoting the luxury sport to the nation's new and growing ranks of wealthy.

China's new review body for inward M&A could bring some much-needed transparency to the deal approval process and even make it quicker for foreign companies to get tie-ups with mainland firms past the authorities.

Global miner BHP Billiton's boss, Marius Kloppers, confirmed on Wednesday he had harboured concerns about Chinese and competitor espionage on his business, citing it as a reason behind his push for market pricing of key commodities.

Gold steadied on Wednesday ahead of a raft of U.S. data due later, having earlier risen to four-week highs as a retreat in the dollar and concerns over the medium-term inflation outlook helped support the precious metal.

Barclays Capital said it continues to believe the new tablet category (led by Apple Inc.'s iPad) is poised for rapid growth over the coming years.

The home improvement retailer is set to give significant boost to job creation in the economy, hiring over 60000 seasonal associates to cope with the demands of a busy spring season.

India and Japan, two of Asia's largest economies, signed the landmark free trade agreement (FTA) on Wednesday, paving way for the elimination of tariffs on more than 90 percent of goods traded between the two countries over the next decade.

China will soon publish new regulations to increase supervision of the country's rare earth industry in a move that is likely to drastically change the landscape of the sector, the China Securities Journal informed on Wednesday.

The Group of 20 wealthy and emerging nations is likely to encourage emerging countries to let their currencies float more freely when they meet this week, in a repeat of language used last year, a G20 official said on Tuesday.

China is prepared to increase interest rates and banks' required reserve ratios (RRR) further in 2011, a government think-tank said in a report published on Tuesday.

A Chinese company has won a 900 million euro ($1.21 billion) contract to build a new international airport in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, underscoring the close links between China and sanctions-hit Sudan.

A top Chinese official has backed ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's plans to hand power to his son, the North's state media said on Tuesday, hailing the successful solution to allow continued socialist rule.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) disclosed in a report 91 children under the age of 16 were found to be working last year in ten Chinese factories owned by its suppliers.