BEIJING (Reuters) – China refused to be drawn on Thursday on revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance and on the American in Hong Kong who leaked the information, and a senior source said Beijing does not want to jeopardize recently improved ties with Washington.

China has been on a long holiday since National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden told Britain’s Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post last week of the agency’s programs to monitor data at big companies such as Google Inc and Facebook Inc.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China told an envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that Pyongyang should stop conducting nuclear and missile tests, but the North showed little sign of heeding the request, said a source with knowledge of the talks held late last month.

Kim dispatched Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the country’s top military body, to explain North Korea’s recent actions but he got a lukewarm reception from his Chinese hosts, said the source, who has close ties to Beijing and Pyongyang.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China told an envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that Pyongyang should stop conducting nuclear and missile tests, but the North showed little sign of heeding the request, said a source with knowledge of the talks held late last month.

Kim dispatched Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the country’s top military body, to explain North Korea’s recent actions but he got a lukewarm reception from his Chinese hosts, said the source, who has close ties to Beijing and Pyongyang.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China told an envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that Pyongyang should stop conducting nuclear and missile tests, but the North showed little sign of heeding the request, said a source with knowledge of the talks held late last month.

Kim dispatched Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the country’s top military body, to explain North Korea’s recent actions but he got a lukewarm reception from his Chinese hosts, said the source, who has close ties to Beijing and Pyongyang.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday ensuring economic growth was the top priority for his government, pledging to fight graft, tackle vested interests and calling for an end to a cyber-hacking row with the United States.

Li’s first news conference as premier, at the close of the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament that confirmed his appointment, covered topics that have been the principal focus of recent government rhetoric, with a strong emphasis on the necessity of reform to deliver long-term economic stability.

BEIJING, March 17 (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang
said on Sunday ensuring economic growth was the top priority for
his government, pledging to fight graft, tackle vested interests
and calling for an end to a cyber-hacking row with the United
States.

Li’s first news conference as premier, at the close of the
annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament that confirmed
his appointment, covered topics that have been the principal
focus of recent government rhetoric, with a strong emphasis on
the necessity of reform to deliver long-term economic stability.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Wang Yang, one of China’s best-known reformers who was passed over for promotion last year, is set to become one of four vice premiers, sources said, a role that will see his credentials for change tested to the full.

The largely rubber-stamp National People’s Congress, or parliament, will name the four vice premiers and cabinet ministers in a tightly scripted ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday.

BEIJING (Reuters) – A reformist member of China’s decision-making Politburo, Li Yuanchao, is set to become the country’s vice president this week instead of a more senior and conservative official best known for keeping the media in check, sources said.

Li’s appointment would be a sign that new Communist Party leader and incoming president Xi Jinping’s clout is growing, a source with ties to the leadership said. Xi fended off a bid by influential former president Jiang Zemin to install propaganda tsar Liu Yunshan in the job, the source said.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will likely appoint savvy international dealmakers to run its giant sovereign wealth fund and Commerce Ministry in a soft power push to soothe fears over a planned spending spree to boost Beijing’s ownership of strategic global assets.

Securities regulator Guo Shuqing is tipped to take the helm at the $482 billion state investment vehicle, China Investment Corp (CIC) CIC.UL, and China’s chief trade representative, Gao Hucheng, is seen running the Commerce Ministry, two sources with leadership ties told Reuters.

BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) – China will likely appoint savvy
international dealmakers to run its giant sovereign wealth fund
and Commerce Ministry in a soft power push to soothe fears over
a planned spending spree to boost Beijing’s ownership of
strategic global assets.

Securities regulator Guo Shuqing is tipped to take the helm
at the $482 billion state investment vehicle, China Investment
Corp (CIC), and China’s chief trade representative, Gao
Hucheng, is seen running the Commerce Ministry, two sources with
leadership ties told Reuters.