China
Visa, Mastercard welcome Beijing's plans to free bank cards market
BEIJING - Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc welcome China's plans to open up its market for clearing domestic bank card transactions, as they stand to gain access to a growing market worth more than $1 trillion a year.
China says disgraced security chief not relevant to top party meeting
BEIJING - China's Communist Party made no mention of the fate of China's powerful domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang at a recent key meeting because he is no longer part of the central leadership, a senior party official said on Thursday.
China banks' bad loans surge, credit crunch could spread west
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI - Two of China's biggest banks reported sharply rising bad loans for the third quarter on Wednesday, and one added that a credit crunch squeezing small companies in the country's export-oriented eastern provinces may be spreading westwards.
China to free clearing market for bank cards
BEIJING - China will open up its market for clearing domestic bank card transactions, the cabinet said on Wednesday, in a move that could benefit companies such as Visa Inc and Mastercard , in a booming market worth over $1 trillion (0.62 trillion pounds) a year.
Toronto schools set to reject Confucius deal, likely irritating China
TORONTO - Canada's largest school district is set to end a planned partnership with China's government-funded Confucius Institute, a move likely to irritate Beijing just days before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to visit.
Europe should shake up tax rules to boost equity investment - LSE boss
LONDON - European countries should change their tax rules to encourage investment in small businesses, the head of the London Stock Exchange said, as a sector crucial to the region's revival is starved of cash by banks.
Lawmaker stripped of China post after calling for Hong Kong leader to step down
HONG KONG - The leader of Hong Kong's Liberal Party said he would resign on Wednesday, just hours after China's top parliamentary advisory body expelled him for calling on the city's embattled chief executive to step down.
World Bank urges China to cut economic growth target to 7 percent in 2015
BEIJING - China can cut its economic growth target to 7 percent next year without hurting its labour market, the World Bank said on Wednesday even as it urged Beijing to get rid of rigid growth objectives.
China says anti-graft accord to be signed at APEC summit
BEIJING - Next month Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing will agree to a deal to fight corruption, China's foreign minister said on Wednesday, appealing for more international cooperation.
China says will be good host to Japan during APEC
BEIJING - China said on Wednesday it will extend all possible courtesy to Japan at next month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Beijing, but gave no indication it would agree to a leaders' get-together.