BEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Businessmen in sober suits
leapt to their feet, jostling with cameras and mobile phones to
snap a quick shot as the new U.S. ambassador to China strode to
the podium at a hotel ballroom in Jinan, in coastal Shandong
province.

Nine hours later, after a speech on energy cooperation,
signing ceremonies for deals of a few million dollars each, and
dinner with the governor, he was back on the train to Beijing.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is preparing to buy up plum assets in Europe, the commerce minister said on Monday, as the escalating debt crisis leaves countries in the region increasingly vulnerable to the deep pockets of Chinese firms.

The fastest-growing major economy in the world is keen to invest in infrastructure in Western Europe, particularly in Britain, Lou Jiwei, the head of $400 billion China Investment Corp (CIC), wrote in the Financial Times at the weekend.

BEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters) – China is preparing to buy
up plum assets in Europe, the commerce minister said on Monday,
as the escalating debt crisis leaves countries in the region
increasingly vulnerable to the deep pockets of Chinese firms.

The fastest-growing major economy in the world is keen to
invest in infrastructure in Western Europe, particularly in
Britain, Lou Jiwei, the head of $400 billion China Investment
Corp (CIC), wrote in the Financial Times at the weekend.

BEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters) – China’s Commerce Minister
plans to lead an investment delegation to Europe next year,
hoping to pick up some plum assets on the crisis-hit continent.

China has been reluctant to publically commit to buying
additional European bonds, despite pleas for help, but could be
much more interested in getting hard assets for its cash.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has been forced into self-help mode after a series of international crises have hollowed out its export markets and left it feeling like the only man standing.

But Beijing may not have time to administer its ideal medicine — a project to spur domestic demand.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has been forced into self-help mode after a series of international crises have hollowed out its export markets and left it feeling like the only man standing.

But Beijing may not have time to administer its ideal medicine — a project to spur domestic demand.

BEIJING, Nov 14 (Reuters) – China’s central planning
agency has fined two middlemen for attempting to control the
market for a drug compound, and thereby driving up the cost to
make a blood pressure medicine provided by the government at low
prices.

The case is one of very few applications of China’s
anti-monopoly law by the National Development and Reform
Commission, which has a mandate to monitor prices.

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Ten years after joining the World Trade Organization, China has clearly gained — it is now the world’s second-biggest economy — but foreign multinationals and Chinese reformers alike worry that the drive to open its markets has stalled.

Rather than building on its WTO commitments to open new sectors, the focus has shifted to regulations designed to protect domestic state-owned champions, the critics argue.

BEIJING, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Growth in advertising sales by
China’s state television has softened to the slowest in at least
six years, a sign of corporate caution and an indication that
the pace of economic growth could slow further too.

China Central Television’s (CCTV) annual advertising auction
doubles as a barometer for the Chinese economy, with ad spending
rising by about one and a half times GDP growth in each of the
past several years.

BEIJING, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Excited bidders pushed
advertising rates on China’s state television to new highs on
Tuesday as domestic firms crowded out foreign brands in the
battle to reach ever more Chinese consumers.

China Central Television’s annual advertising auction is
broadly seen as a barometer for the Chinese economy, with ad
spending rising by about one and a half times GDP growth in each
of the past several years.