China's economy will probably rebound in the fourth quarter, Jia Kang, a Ministry of Finance researcher, said at a conference reviewing China's economic performance in Beijing today.China will achieve its full-year growth target of 7.5 percent and "the rebound in the fourth quarter is likely to extend into next year," Jia said at the quarterly conference at the China Center for Economic Research, Peking University.The median forecast in a Bloomberg news survey of 30 economists, which was publish

Oct. 27, 2012

Less than two weeks before China's once-in-a-decade leadership transition, a top official said economic reforms should center on its state-owned enterprises that have been the major driving force behind the country's explosive growth."Facing the current political and economic circumstances inside and out of the country, it is necessary to further promote and enhance the reform of state-owned enterprises, so that they can fully play the leading role in the national economy," said Wu Bangguo, Chin

Oct. 27, 2012

Chinese industrial companies' profits rose in September for the first time in six months, adding to signs economic growth is picking up following a seven-quarter slowdown.Net income rose 7.8 percent from a year earlier to 464.3 billion yuan ($74.3 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. That compared with a 6.2 percent decline in August, the year's largest drop.Today's report followed data showing industrial production and retail sales accelerated in September and a ma

Oct. 27, 2012

UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank, will cut as many as 10,000 jobs companywide as the trading business shrinks, a person with knowledge of the plan said.Many of the reductions will come in the trading businesses overseen by investment-bank co-head Carsten Kengeter and probably will occur over several quarters, said the person, who requested anonymity because the plans haven't been publicly announced. An announcement may come when UBS reports third- quarter earnings Oct. 30, the person said.Chie

Oct. 27, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- It used to be that Microsoft was the evil empire, and Apple the scrappy underdog.Now the roles are reversed, and Microsoft is challenging a dominant Apple, which has staked its claim as the leader of the sizzling mobile sector for tablets and smartphones, as well as the biggest seller of digital music.Microsoft, still the biggest force in the PC market with its Windows operating system, is making a new, belated effort on Apple's turf.The Redmond, Washington-based giant has la

Oct. 27, 2012

A failure of Japan's parliament to approve budget legislation by the end of November risks an impact on bond sales, a Ministry of Finance official said.Opposition lawmakers are blocking authorization for 38.3 trillion yen ($478 billion) in government borrowing to cover this year's deficit as they press Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to call elections. The legislation needs to be approved by November for the finance ministry to hold debt auctions as planned, the official told reporters in Tokyo ye

Oct. 27, 2012

TURIN, Italy (AFP) -- As economic giant China ploughs ahead with modernisation and industrialisation, small-scale farmers and producers are creating pockets of resistance by going back to their roots."China has made incredible steps forward but we're paying the price in terms of our health and are losing traditional ways of farming and eating," Zhou Jinzhang told AFP at the world's biggest food fair in Turin in northern Italy.Zhang founded a non-profit association, "The Farmers' Friend," in 2004

Oct. 27, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Ford pressed ahead Thursday with its plan to slash production in Europe, announcing another plant closure and 1,500 more job cuts, as it warned that annual losses in the region will exceed $1.5 billion this year and next. Ford Motor Co. is struggling in Europe, like many major carmakers, because labor costs are relatively high and there are too many plants given that demand for cars is sliding due to the economic crisis. Worries about its European business have dragged down Ford’s

Oct. 26, 2012

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan’s Cabinet approved a 423 billion yen ($5.3 billion) economic stimulus package on Friday, moving to fend off recession as the recovery in the world’s third biggest economy falters.The emergency spending package, which is double the size originally expected, is also meant to help make up for lost momentum from reconstruction in the region devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s leeway to boost spending is limited by a legislative stand

Oct. 26, 2012

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded three French banks on Thursday, including giant BNP Paribas, and placed 10 others on negative outlook including Credit Agricole and Societe Generale."In our view, the economic risks under which French banks operate are increasing, leaving French banks moderately more exposed to the potential of a more protracted recession in the eurozone," S&P said in a statement explaining its action.In its decision, S&P lowered its long-term rating on BNP Paribas t

Oct. 26, 2012

China should play a key role in addressing global imbalances amid growing calls that emerging countries should shift their export-dependent growth models into domestic demand-centered growth, a U.S. economist said Thursday.The global economy is sputtering, mainly driven by sluggishness in major economies. Emerging countries, which recovered quickly from the 2008 global financial crisis, have faced criticism from some advanced nations which argue their export-driven growth contributes to global i

Oct. 25, 2012

The European Commission said Wednesday that there is no accord yet between Greece's international creditors and Athens on extending the terms of its debt rescue, but that substantial progress has been made."Substantial progress has been made in talks with Greece but a few outstanding issues remain before a staff level agreement can be reached," a spokesman for European economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said in a tweeted message after reports from Athens that a deal had been reached.Greek F

Oct. 25, 2012

PSA Peugeot Citroen may announce a deal as soon as today in which the French state would guarantee as much as 7 billion euros ($9 billion) in new bonds for the carmaker’s finance arm in exchange for greater government and worker influence, people familiar with the matter said. The government would back the bonds for Banque PSA Finance, and Peugeot would appoint a labor leader and a government representative to its board of directors, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing ong

Oct. 24, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Samsung’s high-stakes legal battle with Apple was bolstered Tuesday by word that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was second-guessing a patent at issue in the case.Officials re-examined an Apple patent for an effect that makes a smartphone screen appear to “bounce” when an edge is tugged by a finger and tentatively concluded it should be invalidated because it was not new, intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller reported at FossPatents.com.“Apple’s rubber-banding

Oct. 24, 2012

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Facebook said it was making strong gains in tapping the mobile advertising market as the world’s leading social network turned in better-than-expected third quarter earnings Tuesday.Founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg declared it a “myth” that the northern California-based company was not yet able to make money from the turn of users away from computer screens to their smartphones.From virtually nothing earlier this year, he said, mobile was now bringing in 14 percent of

Oct. 24, 2012

GENEVA (AFP) ― The World Trade Organization on Tuesday established a panel of experts to investigate a complaint by the United States over Chinese duties on auto imports.In the dispute, one of many involving the world’s two biggest economies, the U.S. described China’s actions as having “profound procedural and substantive deficiencies,” a source close to the organization said.The duties were also in breach of international trade rules, the U.S. delegation said.China responded by saying that it

Oct. 24, 2012

The foreign ministers of Britain and Germany clashed Tuesday on their vision for Europe, with William Hague saying Berlin’s integration drive was alienating many in the bloc.Hague told a foreign policy forum in Berlin that the push for ever-greater coordination in areas like the banking sector and national budgets to fight the euro-debt crisis risked in fact driving a wedge through the EU.“The coalition government is committed to Britain playing a leading role in the EU but I must also be frank:

Oct. 24, 2012