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BEIJING: China’s manufacturing activity continued to contract in February as export orders weakened, HSBC said, in a further sign that the eurozone crisis and US weakness are hurting demand. HSBC’s preliminary purchasing managers index rose to 49.7, the highest level in four months, from a final reading of 48.8 in January, the British banking giant said in a statement, released …

NEW DELHI: India, China, the US, Russia, Brazil and another 21 nations have decided to retaliate against the EU decision to collect billions of dollars every year by unilaterally imposing a carbon tax on flights landing in Eurozone. The retaliatory measures decided include reviewing or abrogating the bilateral service agreements and open skies’ agreements with each European country, suspending all …

The central bank’s anti-inflationary stance has hurt the country’s economic growth, the government said on Tuesday, but it exuded confidence that the current deceleration was a temporary blip. The economy should soon clock a double-digit growth, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here. The comments come less than a month ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary review and the …

(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Monday it is taking a controlling stake in Chinese e-commerce firm Yihaodian, as the world’s largest retailer seeks new revenue sources to fend off rising competition in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The move comes two weeks after Wal-Mart announced the appointment of industry veteran Greg Foran as head of its China operations, capping a …

Rates for tankers hauling liquefied natural gas are rising for a third year as expanding Japanese demand for the fuel attracts cargoes from the Atlantic, extending voyages at a time of shipping capacity shortages. Rising requirements from Japan mean Golar LNG Ltd. (GOL), which operates nine LNG tankers and is controlled by shipping billionaire John Fredriksen, will report a threefold gain in …

China Telecom Corp. (728) will offer Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone 4S starting March 9, making it the nation’s second mobile-phone company to sell the device. Users who commit to a two-year contract can get a free 16- gigabyte handset with a service plan costing 389 yuan ($62) a month, the state-owned parent of China Telecom, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier, said in a statement …

China’s Vice President Xi Jinping, on the last day of a much-ballyhooed five-day trip through the United States, said the Chinese economy will avoid a “hard landing” this year and maintain stable growth. Slated to become the president of China by 2013, Xi told a business forum in Los Angeles: “2012 will be a crucial year in driving the twelfth …

Singapore will seek to reduce its reliance on foreign workers and, instead, try to improve the productivity of its own workforce in an effort to restructure its economy, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced on Friday. FOREIGN WORKER QUOTA CUT In the first budget speech since a watershed general election in May last year, Tharman announced that …

Retailers from Forever 21 Inc. to Gap Inc. (GPS) have rushed to Hong Kong to reach the 28 million Chinese tourists passing through last year. To do so, they are paying some of the world’s highest rents. Hong Kong retail rents, which rose 32 percent in prime locations last year according to Savills Plc estimates, may climb more even as global economies …

Asian stocks rose this week, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index equaling its longest streak of advances, as China pledged to do more to help Europe cope with the debt crisis and Japanboosted asset purchases. Cosco Pacific Ltd. (1199), the Hong Kong-listed operator of Greece’s Piraeus port, climbed 4.1 percent. Chipmakers outside Japan rallied after debt-laden Elpida Memory Inc. said it may not survive. Reliance …