A survey noted a trend of moderate price drops in major consumer goods such as electrical appliances and automobiles, saying this would prod consumers to look for higher-end products.
China on Wednesday let the Yuan rise to its highest level since July's revaluation and restated its commitment to freer capital flows as US officials began new talks aimed at reducing America's big trade deficit with China.
The China UnionPay (CUP), a shareholding financial institution unifying China's national bankcard networks, has decided to set up an anti-fraud control center soon in a bid to provide risk-proof services for card holders.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia's largest oil refiner, will offer 14.3 billion yuan (US$1.78 billion) in cash to buy back four listed subsidiaries, a company statement said on 15, February.
The Financial Times said that McDonald's revealed a new reading on the level of the potentially harmful substance under new U.S. government rules on food labels to specify the level of the trans fat in food products.
For the last five years, one of the things in China that has constantly generated despair is its capital market. Finally, analysts say, there is hope that 2006 may be a bullish year.
Since China revalued the yuan by 2.1 percent against the dollar in July and adopted a managed float, it has let the currency rise 0.54 percent against the U.S. currency.
But sales of passenger vehicles, including sedans and sport utility vehicles, jumped 21 percent to nearly 4 million units, the newspaper said, bouncing back from a relatively lackluster rise of 15 percent in 2004. In 2003, sales almost doubled.
Jessica Simpson followed Olsen. Though her Daisy Dukes shorts landed her on the pages of numerous magazines, Mr. Blackwell said she "resembles a cut-rate Rapunzel - slingin' hash in a Vegas diner."
After proceeding cautiously, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) yesterday told domestic operators to be ready for the rollout of 3G (third generation) mobile telecoms services.
The agreement was confidential and all the sides were satisfied with it since it settled the dispute, according to a statement from Microsoft (Shanghai) Company on Friday. The agreement indicated the end of a five-month wrangle on Lee's job-hopping.
China's State Council, or cabinet, has decided to improve the basic endowment insurance system for enterprise employees around the country, stressing the necessity of paying the pension on time and in full.
Brazilian authorities are investigating national soccer team manager, Carlos Alberto Parreira, for possible money laundering and tax evasion, because links to sports entrepreneurs Reinaldo Pitta and Alexandre Martins,local press said on Tuesday.
Outbound travel by Chinese citizens started in 1997 with destinations consisting merely of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines as well as China's Hong Kong and Macao. Only 5.32 million Chinese citizens traveled abroad the same year, the official said.
Airbus agreed with Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday to study the possibility of setting up an assembly line in China -- a move that could see its jets being built outside Europe for the first time.
Hong Kong blockbusters swept the major prizes of Taiwan's 42nd Golden Horse Film Awards, considered one of the top awards events of the Chinese-language film industry.
The accord is aimed at smoothing over a rough spot in the US-China trade relationship before President George Bush visits Beijing in the middle of this month.
China's monthly personal income tax cutoff point was lifted to 1,600 yuan from 1,500 yuan after drawing on public opinions from the first-ever legislature hearing held on Sept. 27.
Reform measures, including 2 billion yuan (US$246 million) in central bank bills to help write off bad loans as well as efforts to improve management, have already yielded results.
Facing intense competition both from global rivals like General Motors Corp. and domestic upstarts like Chery Automobile Co., VW has seen its market share drop to 18 percent, from well over 50 percent in the 1990s.
Once finalized, the deal would mark the European firm's first direct investment in China's banking industry, after it lost a bid to buy into Bank of Beijing in March to Dutch rival ING and the World Bank's International Finance Corp.
Stephen Liu Yiu-keung and Yeo Boon-ann have been appointed as joint liquidatorsof the company, to implement the transactions outlined in the Settlement Deed.
It is estimated that the sales volume of gold and jewelry during the week-long holiday saw a year-on-year increase of around 35 percent as business was brisk throughout the country
The first and last three days will be thepeak season of the National Day holiday. The aviation industry has entered into high season, with 400,000 passengers transporting everyday and load factor is close to 75 percent.
"These headcount reductions are indispensable. They will contribute to significant improvements in the competitiveness of Mercedes-Benz through an increase in productivity," the company said.
The People's Bank of China may name banks including HSBC Holdings Plc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of China as market makers in the yuan, a step toward a freely traded currency, bankers and traders familiar with the situation said.
"These firms make a decisive contribution to job creation. Our aim is to liberate their massive potential to improve competitiveness, tone up employment, boost economic growth and encourage social cohesion," Sioufas said.
China's central bank pledged Monday to keep the newly unshackled yuan basically stable but urged fresh efforts to wean the economy off export-driven growth.
The physical and psychological damage caused by Hurricane Katrina is likely to reverberate across the global economy in ways that will curb growth well into 2006, economists say.
There were no significant changes from prior quarters, and SupportSoft met revenue estimates. During the conference call, however, management raised an issue that made my ears perk up.
In an effort to gain some control over what motorists pay at the pump, Hawaii on Wednesday became the first state in the U.S. to set caps on the wholesale price of gasoline.
The Internet search leader said it will use the proceeds for "general corporate purposes," including possible acquisitions. Google added that it currently has no agreements or commitments to make a material purchase.
"Six weeks after the July 7 attacks killed 56 people, including four suicide bombers, the Greater London Authority (GLA) accepts there has been some downturn,"the economic daily reported.
Now the startup founded by two Chinese veterans of American tech firms is preparing to follow Google's example with an initial public offering in the United States, hoping to raise $45 million.
However, that comparison is skewed because the sale of IBM's personal computer division to China's Lenovo Group Ltd. closed on May 1, lowering the figures IBM posted in the remaining two months of the quarter. Looking only at continuing operations, IBM showed a profit of $1.85 billion, $1.14 per share.
"There are clear differences between the two populations that had not been previously recognized and these were confirmed by the studies on DNA," said Isabel Beasley, a doctoral student at James Cook University's School of Tropical Environmental Studies and Geography.
But aside from giving interns valuable experience, the program is a relatively cheap source of labor for Disney and sometimes worries the unionized workers, although union officials approved the program when it began almost 25 years ago.
Entrepreneurs grumble that executives pander to big-ticket electronics vendors and industrial manufacturers - not the teddy bear enthusiasts and numismatists who were faithful a decade ago, when eBay was founded and enjoyed a kitschy obscurity. They complain about shoddy customer service, including site crashes and anti-fraud software that too often mistakes a legitimate business for a huckster.
The anticipated increase would bring the official quota to 28 million barrels per day - a symbolic gesture, analysts said, since the cartel is already pumping that much. Including Iraq, which is not bound by the official quota, OPEC's daily output was 29.3 million barrels a day in May, according to the International Energy Agency.
Beer-swilling Britons face a sobering prospect: an unhappy hour. A group representing about half the country's pubs and bars said Monday it is curbing Happy Hour offers and other deals that encourage irresponsible drinking, a British pastime that has come under increasing attack from the government.
Scientists are excited about a vitamin again. But unlike fads that sizzled and fizzled, the evidence this time is strong and keeps growing. If it bears out, it will challenge one of medicine's most fundamental beliefs: that people need to coat themselves with sunscreen whenever they're in the sun. Doing that may actually contribute to far more cancer deaths than it prevents, some researchers think.
The goal of the merger is to stitch together two geographically distinct carriers with a history of financial struggles into a stronger airline that would compete better with lower-cost rivals such as Southwest Airlines Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. US Airways has a strong presence on the East Coast, and in the Caribbean, while America West operates across the West from hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Wine lovers can't be barred from shipping home bottles purchased from out-of-state vineyards they visit in person or on the Internet, the Supreme Court said Monday in a decision toasted by the wine industry.
Disney's profit of $698 million, or 33 cents a share, was a shade above Wall Street estimates and contrasts with the $537 million, or 26 cents, it earned a year earlier. Revenue in the period ended April 2 climbed 9% to $7.8 billion.
Bahrain has its own agreement awaiting U.S. Congress ratification. Two other members of the six-state Gulf Cooperation Council -- Oman and the United Arab Emirates -- have started talks on free trade deals with the U.S.
After years of promoting the chemical DEET as the best defense against West Nile-bearing mosquitoes, the government for the first time is recommending the use of two other insect repellents.
Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn's "The Interpreter" translated into solid box-office as the United Nations thriller debuted with $22.8 million to top the weekend for Hollywood.
The "MareNostrum," built by IBM Corp., boasts 40 teraflops of speed. It can make more calculations in one second than a human pecking at a calculator could make in 10 million years.
Shares in Lenovo Group, the largest Chinese maker of personal computers, rose Thursday after three buyout funds bought a stake in the company for $350 million.
Mr Hurd, currently head of smaller US computer services group NCR, will replace Carly Fiorina, who was ousted from HP in February. HP's shares closed up 8.1% in Tuesday trading in New York, following initial speculation of Mr Hurd's appointment.
A judge has ordered Sony Corp. to pay $90.7 million to a company that develops technology that enhances video game realism but immediately stayed an order that would halt U.S. sales of Sony's popular PlayStation consoles.
The report said the State Emergency Veterinary and Anti-Epizootic Committee was working on the problem, reporting outbreaks in "a few" locations, including the Hadang Chicken Farm, one of Pyongyang's largest.
Bernard Ebbers, the once-swaggering CEO of WorldCom, was convicted Tuesday of engineering the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history - an $11 billion accounting scandal that capsized the big telecom company three years ago.
"'Pacifier' did better than anyone expected, but you can't underestimate the family audience," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box-office figures. "I think people like to see a fish-out-of-water story, an action star in a very unexpected role."
On Wednesday, a US government report showed that inventories of distillate fuel, a category that include heating oil and diesel, fell 1.7 million barrels to 110 million. Analysts had expected a 1.2-million-barrel decline.
The PSP machine, a challenger to Nintendo Co.'s long-standing grip on the handheld video gaming market, will be sold as a "value pack" for $250 in the United States and for $300 Canadian dollars. It will include numerous accessories and - for the first million sold - a copy of the "Spider-Man 2" movie on the new Universal Media Disc format that Sony designed for the PSP.
Shares in Google jumped 9 percent to a record high after the company reported net income shot up more than seven times from a year earlier, beating estimates by a wide margin.
The devastating tsunami that wiped out cities, seaside communities and holiday resorts in southern Asia has not put holidaymakers off visiting the region, a survey has found.
When it comes to recruiting students for college, admissions officials are turning to increasingly outlandish stunts to get the attention of high schoolers. Birthday cards, ski weekends and even reality TV shows are being used by colleges and universities to get an edge.
Hiring the shirtsleeve crowd represents a shift in the economy toward higher-paying jobs and a more skilled workforce. It also indicates that some companies that squeezed their middle managements four years ago are starting to rebuild them.
Annette Bening of "Being Julia" and Clive Owen and Natalie Portman of the sex drama "Closer" won Golden Globes on Sunday, boosting their prospects for the upcoming Academy Awards.
The agreements allow Chinese companies to explore for oil, set up refineries and produce natural gas in the South American country, officials said earlier.
A European Union court is to issue its initial verdict in a high-profile anti-trust case pitting US software giant Microsoft against the EU's executive commission.
Rounding out the group's list, which did not rank the films, were the hit-man thriller "Collateral"; the quirky romances "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Sideways"; the football drama "Friday Night Lights"; the drug-smuggling drama "Maria Full of Grace"; and "Kinsey," a film biography of sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey.
Beauty pageants were once considered reviled displays of western decadence but have become big business in Communist-ruled China following more than two decades of economic reforms.
The United States may open to Chinese group tours next year, but travelers will have to put down a substantial deposit before booking a trip to America.
The Grammys have gone autobiographical. Kanye West raps about religion, his fears and his own greatness. Usher steamed up the charts with songs about sex, affairs and breakups. Alicia Keys sang about aching for love, confiding secrets and imagining a different future for herself.
With the year's top album and single, Usher doesn't have to worry about getting left out when Grammy nominees are announced Tuesday. The question simply is how many nominations the R&B crooner will get.
The images indicated that from 8,920 square miles to 9,420 square miles, or an area bigger than New Jersey, was cut down this year, said Joao Paulo Capobianco, the government's secretary of biodiversity and forests.
McDonald's Corp. said on Monday President and Chief Executive Charlie Bell had stepped down to focus on his cancer treatment and that Vice Chairman Jim Skinner would replace him.
The US stock market has closed higher in response to George W Bush's victory in the presidential elections. The benchmark Dow Jones share index closed more than 1% higher at 10,137, while the Nasdaq rose 0.9% to 2,004.
The remains of a rare whale washed ashore on a northern New South Wales beach are to be sent to the Australian Museum. Originally thought to be a Longman's beaked whale, the specimen has now been identified as a bottlenose whale.
Aircraft maker Airbus will set up an engineering centre in China next year to further strengthen its Research & Development (R&D) strategy in addition to its significantly increasing procurement in China, reported China Daily on Tuesday.
The world's largest handset maker's market share grew to 31 per cent in the third quarter from 29 per cent in the previous three months, said Strategy Analytics, a Boston-based researcher. Samsung Electronics Co, the No 3, closed in on second-placed Motorola Inc, and LG Electronics Inc passed Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd to become No 5.
Shenzhen Airlines takes a controlling 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, which is named Jade Cargo International, while Lufthansa Cargo holds 25 per cent, the maximum for a single foreign investor in a joint venture of this kind as Chinese policy regulates.
Yahoo! China said yesterday that it had formed an e-mail alliance with Chinese firms like NASDAQ-listed travel service company Ctrip, game websites including Haofang, e-commerce firm Dangdang, IT information portals Chinabyte, Enet and Donews, and software company Kingsoft.
The fair, jointly organized by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Guangdong provincial government, is showcasing the great achievements of the country's SMEs.
The Habo No. 1 looks like any one of the legions of Volkswagen sedans in China. But a peek under the hood reveals an array of chrome canisters instead of the usual engine - the Habo is fueled not by gas but hydrogen peroxide.
U.S. oil prices slipped below $48 on Thursday on expectations that the United States might loan some crude to U.S. refiners from its strategic petroleum reserve after weather-related disruptions led to a big dip in supplies.
Yukos faces billions of dollars in back tax claims and company officials say it is "close to bankruptcy." Most of its bank accounts and assets have been frozen by the Russian government.
Samsung Electronics Co, the world's second-largest semiconductor maker, said it expects global chip sales next year to grow at half of this year's pace on increased supply from new plants coming online.
