Beijing, May 19 : Chinese Premier Li Keqiang departed here Sunday for official visits to four nations, with India being the first stop.

From India, Li will go to Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany, reports Xinhua.

Li is visiting these countries at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Pakistan government, Swiss President Ueli Maurer and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (IANS)

The Obama administration on Friday gave a conditional nod for exporting of domestically generated liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries which don't have Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U. S.

The US' decision to export LNG to non-FTA countries from Freeport Terminal on Quintana Island in Texas has major implications for India because will now be able to import much needed gas from the US.

Shanghai, May 18 : American hurdler Aries Merritt, who won his first Olympic gold in London and set a world record in the men's 110m hurdles last year, has geared up for the 2013 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League Shanghai leg.

"I will try to start the season in my best form and hopefully I'll be in my best so I won't disappoint the fans that come to watch the competition," said Merritt, 27, here Friday, reports Xinhua.

Merritt began the 2012 campaign by altering his approach to the first hurdle from eight to seven steps.

Beijing, May 10 : German automaker Daimler AG has begun a trial production at its first overseas engine plant in China ahead of its full operation scheduled later this year.

Construction of the plant started in July 2011 and is expected to be fully operational in October, reported Xinhua.

The plant is a subsidiary of Beijing Benz Automobile Co., Ltd. (BBAC), a joint venture between BAIC Motor, Daimler AG and Daimler Greater China Ltd that manufactures Mercedes-Benz cars.

Three types of Mercedes-Benz engines, M270, M274 and M276, will be assembled at the plant, which has an initial annual capacity of 300,000 units.

Beijing, May 9 : China will hike petrol and diesel retail prices by 95 yuan (around $15) per tonne starting Friday, the country's top economic planner said Thursday.

As part of the government's efforts to promote market-oriented pricing for energy resources, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) introduced a new pricing mechanism in the domestic market in March to better reflect global market changes, Xinhua reported.

Domestic fuel prices will not be changed if global oil price changes are less than 50 yuan per tonne, according to the new pricing regime.(IANS)

Beijing, May 9 : One more person died Thursday in central China's Henan province due to the H7N9 avian influenza, bringing the nationwide death toll to 32, officials said.

The 56-year-old man surnamed Cui died in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, two weeks after his infection was confirmed, Xinhua cited the health bureau as saying.

Cui suffered from fever for one week before being admitted to a hospital in critical condition.

His condition became critical, as he also suffered from hypertension, coronary heart disease and a cerebral infarction.

Beijing, May 9 : Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid's visit to China will help put "a political end" to the recent border row, a hardline Chinese daily said Thursday.

In an article "Face-off just a small thorn in Sino-Indian relations", Global Times said the recent border tensions had been "solved smoothly" even before Khurshid began his May 9-10 trip.

"It seems the two Asian giants, once confronted with the border issue, have developed a tit-for-tat attitude towards each other among the public," it said.

Beijing, May 9 : China's producer price index (PPI), which measures wholesale inflation, fell 2.6 percent year on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The drop, which was lower than the 2.2 percent market estimation, recorded the lowest figure since last November, suggesting continued weak market demand, reported Xinhua.

Output prices of production materials fell 3.5 percent year on year in April, contributing about 2.68 percentage points of the PPI drop in the month, while those of consumer goods gained 0.3 percent during the period. (IANS)

According to the latest data released, the total exports from China increased 14.7 per cent during the month of April, 2013 compared to the same month of the previous year.

American online retail giant, Amazon has announced the launch of its popular Appstore for Android in the massive Chinese telecom market in order to attract more users in the country.

With the launch of the Appstore, Amazon has become the first US firm to allow Chinese users to download both free and paid apps in the country. The company is expanding its presence in China and some reports suggested that it surpassed Google in paid apps for local customers. Google Play store is currently only offering free apps in China.

James Steinberg, a former US Deputy Secretary of States has said that the authorities in China should act responsibly mainly as it has a huge economy and military capabilities.

He said that China will not benefit from any sort of confrontation with its neighbours such as India or Japan. He was responding to the question on his views on recent troubles in Ladakh with India and in South China Sea with Japan. He urged the Chinese authorities to clarify its long term objectives and also assure its neighbours.

Beijing, May 3 : China's non-manufacturing sector shrank in April, according to figures issued Friday.

The purchasing managers index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector stood at 54.5 percent in April, down 1.1 percentage points from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics said in an online statement.

A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction, reported Xinhua.(IANS)

Beijing, May 1 - China's Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector fell to 50.6 percent in April from 50.9 percent in March, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said Wednesday.

It was the seventh consecutive month that the PMI figure stayed above 50 percent, which demarcates expansion from contraction, according to a statement of the CFLP, reported Xinhua. (IANS)

China's largest e-commerce company, Alibaba has agreed to acquire a 18 per cent stake in Sina Corporation's Weibo allowing the company to enter social media in the country.

Alibaba has said that it will invest $586 million for acquiring stake in China's most popular micro-blogging service. The acquisition of stake in Weibo will allow the company to gain access to the large user base including tens of millions of active users.

According to the latest estimates, the three leading telecom service providers in China; China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom could invest a combined 345 billion yuan this year on upgrading their networks to offer faster and improved mobile services to the customers.

Beijing, April 25 : China's ministry of national defence Thursday denied that Chinese border troops and aircraft had trespassed across the line of actual control between China and India.

The media reports on Chinese border troops, military planes and helicopters crossing the line of actual control are "not true", said Yang Yujun, the ministry's spokesman, at a press conference here.

Chinese and Indian border troops are maintaining communications through existing channels, Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Beijing, April 24 : With the fast development of e-books, mobile phones and tablets, traditional books are facing challenges, reported Xinhua citing a survey.

According to the survey, Chinese people read 4.39 books, 77.20 newspapers, 6.56 magazines and 2.35 e-books on average last year. The latter increased by 65.5 percent year on year.

The number of people who read books has also increased, but fewer read newspapers and magazines last year, said the survey, conducted by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication.

It polled 18,619 people in 28 provincial-level regions. Some 31.3 percent were juveniles and 26 percent rural residents.

Beijing, April 23 : Chinese vice premier Liu Yandong met with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge here.

Liu Monday spoke highly of Rogge's contribution to boosting the development of the Olympic movement and expressed gratitude to Rogge for his support to the development of the Olympic movement in China and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, reports Xinhua.

Chinese economy, the world's second-largest economy, grew in April but at a slower pace, according to a monthly index prepared by HSBC.

The HSBC `flash' China Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) for April slipped to 50.5 points, from 51.6 points recorded for the previous month.

It may be noted her that a reading of above 50 represents growth in the economy, while a reading of below 50 shows contraction. The index for April therefore shows growth, but the pace of growth declined considerably month-on-month.

Beijing, April 22 : Chinese shares saw slight losses Monday, as Saturday's quake in southwest China's Sichuan province weighed on the markets.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index moved down 0.11 percent, or 2.47 points, to end at 2,242.17, and the Shenzhen Component Index shed 0.59 percent, or 53.57 points, to 9,057.62, reported Xinhua.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Lushan county of Sichuan's Ya'an city Saturday.

Shares of insurance companies generally fell Monday, as investors feared payouts on quake-related losses would hurt their profits.