DALIAN, China, April 25 (Reuters) – The wide-open sweep of
the Xinghai Plaza in the Chinese port city of Dalian is the
legacy of Bo Xilai, th e dynamic former mayor who was China’s
most openly ambitious politician, and who is now at the center
of China’s biggest political scandal in decades.

The plaza is also associated with multi-millionaire Xu Ming,
described by executives as Bo’s closest business ally, who is in
detention as well. The contract he won during the construction
of the plaza was the start of a relationship that authorities
are now investigating as part of a wider probe into Bo’s
business and political allies.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factories stabilized in April as output ticked higher, new business rose from multi-month lows and export orders perked up, though not sufficiently for a private sector survey of purchasing managers to flag a return to expansionary territory.

The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, the earliest indicator of China’s industrial activity, recovered slightly to 49.1 in April from a final reading of 48.3 in March, but still remained below the level that signifies contracting economic activity for the sixth month running.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Three Gorges Corp. on Thursday marked the beginning of construction for a dam that will flood the last free-flowing portion of the middle reaches of the Yangtze, the country’s longest river.

The 30 billion yuan ($4.75 billion) Xiaonanhai dam is decried by environmentalists because it will flood a nature reserve designed to protect about 40 species of river fish.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has bumped up the annual long-term foreign debt quota allocated to foreign banks to $24 billion, allowing them to bring more money into the country as growth slows in the world’s No.2 economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the powerful Chinese planning agency that announced the quota increase, also said it would launch a pilot project for increasing the debt quota.

BEIJING, March 28 (Reuters) – China’s cabinet gave the
go-ahead on Wednesday for a pilot project it hopes will one day
form a cornerstone of nationwide financial sector reforms.

Private investors in the coastal city of Wenzhou will be
encouraged to buy into local banks and to set up financial
institutions such as loan companies and rural community banks,
the State Council said in a statement posted on the government’s
website.

BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. lawnmower manufacturer Briggs & Stratton is used to worrying about turnover – just not the human kind.

Like many foreign investors in China, the Milwaukee-based firm has been hit by a steady rise in wages for the white collar employees who staff China’s shiny new office towers.

BEIJING (Reuters) – In 30 years, the Chinese people have gone from having barely enough to eat to worrying about spreading waistlines, leaving the healthcare system struggling to keep up with an exponential rise in “nobleman diseases” like diabetes.

The soaring cost of chronic disease could tax China’s effort to offer basic healthcare to 1.4 billion people. Almost one out of every eight Chinese households was racked by catastrophic health expenses in 2011, according to a paper published in medical journal The Lancet.

TANGSHAN, China, March 22 (Reuters) – The Hangu dairy farm
was all that remained from the ruins of Fonterra’s NZ$200
million investment in China after its state-owned partner Sanlu
collapsed in 2008 following revelations that its baby formula
was contaminated by the chemical compound melamine.

The farm, on brown fields northeast of Beijing, is now the
breeding ground for a new international investment strategy by
the New Zealand company, the world’s biggest dairy exporter.

BEIJING, March 13 (Reuters) – Two new Chinese LCD
screens in Beijing’s imposing Great Hall of the People have
replaced screens made by a Japanese competitor, in a sign of
resolve to supply the world with Chinese brands and not just
Made in China products.

The screens, installed for the annual session of parliament
ending on Wednesday, are made by Chinese electronics giant TCL.
At 110 inches, they are the world’s largest, just a touch wider
than the 108-inch Panasonic models they replaced.

BEIJING, March 13 (Reuters) – Two new Chinese LCD
screens in Beijing’s imposing Great Hall of the People have
replaced screens made by a Japanese competitor, in a sign of
resolve to supply the world with Chinese brands and not just
Made in China products.

The screens, installed for the annual session of parliament
ending on Wednesday, are made by Chinese electronics giant TCL.
At 110 inches, they are the world’s largest, just a touch wider
than the 108-inch Panasonic models they replaced.