BEIJING (Reuters) – Private equity funds in China are nervously eyeing a push by the country’s top securities regulator to gain oversight of the fast-growing sector, fearing increased scrutiny and tougher new rules.

This could be bad news for foreign private equity firms such as Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group, which are bullish on China but already have to navigate past a phalanx of regulators.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing wants to transform itself into a centre of technology, service and innovation, where residents prefer mass transit over private cars to move easily about the futuristic capital, the city’s deputy economic planning chief said on Monday.

“Over the next five years we’ll create a service brand competitive worldwide that’s as world famous as watches from Switzerland, fashion from Paris and garments from Italy,” Lu Yingchuan, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, told Reuters.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China may be ready to launch its first aircraft carrier in 2011, Chinese military and political sources said on Thursday, a year ahead of U.S. military analysts’ expectations.

Analysts expect China to use its first operational aircraft carrier to ensure the security of its oil supply route through the Indian Ocean and near the disputed Spratly Islands, but full capability is still some years away.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is considering investments of up to $1.5 trillion over five years in seven strategic industries, sources said, a plan aimed at accelerating the country’s transition from the world’s supplier of cheap goods to a leading purveyor of high-value technologies.

Analysts expressed skepticism at the sheer amount of money — it equates to about 5 percent of China’s gross domestic product on an annual basis — but said that the eye-popping headline figure was an indication of the government’s determination to catalyze a structural shift in the economy.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is considering investments of up to $1.5 trillion over five years in seven strategic industries, sources said, a plan aimed at accelerating the country’s transition from the world’s supplier of cheap goods to a leading purveyor of high-value technologies.

Analysts expressed scepticism at the sheer amount of money — it equates to about 5 percent of China’s gross domestic product on an annual basis — but said that the eye-popping headline figure was an indication of the government’s determination to catalyse a structural shift in the economy.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is considering investments of up to $1.5 trillion over five years in seven strategic industries, sources said, a plan aimed at accelerating the country’s transition from the world’s supplier of cheap goods to a leading purveyor of high-value technologies.

Analysts expressed skepticism at the sheer amount of money — it equates to about 5 percent of China’s gross domestic product on an annual basis — but said that the eye-popping headline figure was an indication of the government’s determination to catalyze a structural shift in the economy.

BEIJING, Nov 19 (Reuters) – The disgraced head of China’s
main nuclear energy company was jailed for life on Friday for
taking bribes, Xinhua news agency said, as part of a crackdown
on corruption that has sent shudders through the power sector.

A closed-door meeting of the ruling Communist Party
stripped Kang Rixin, 57, former president of China National
Nuclear Corp, of his party membership in October.

BEIJING, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Two Chinese nationals have been
arrested in Hungary and are awaiting extradition to the United
States, where they face charges of seeking to buy microchips
banned from export to China, state media said on Wednesday.

The case could become another irritant in Sino-U.S.
relations, which have been tested over issues ranging from
China’s currency to Taiwan, Tibet, China’s huge trade surplus
and most recently, the South China Sea, where China and several
Southeast Asian countries have contending territorial claims.

PYONGYANG (Reuters) – Secretive North Korea’s leader-in-waiting, the youngest son of ailing ruler Kim Jong-il, took center stage during a massive military parade on Sunday, appearing live for the first time in public.

Kim Jong-un stood near his father on the dais, clapping and saluting thousands of goose-stepping soldiers, and reviewing missiles, tanks and artillery rockets.