Sydney  -

Beijing  - Soaring food costs kept China's monthly consumer price inflation at close to 8 per cent in May, but a small decline from April was expected to continue for the next few months, the gover

Beijing - Negotiators from China and Taiwan on Thursday held the first formal talks between the two sides in nearly a decade, beginning a process that is expected to pave the way for improved relat

Berlin - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to undertake a three-day trip to China later this week, his spokesman announced Wednesday.

On Friday, at the start of the trip, Steinmeierr is to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, discussing the working conditions for journalists, particularly during the Olympic Games being hosted by Beijing in August.

The foreign minister is also to visit Sichuan Province, which was devastated by an earthquake on May 12, to assess the work of German aid organizations, spokesman Martin Jaeger said.

Brussels - China and the European Union both favour a diplomatic solution to the problem of Iran's nuclear programme, the two powers' representatives said in Brussels on Wednesday, just hours after

Taipei - Taiwan's top negotiator in talks with China Wednesday headed to Beijing for historic talks that will pave the way for cross-strait rapprochement after six decades of impasse.

"We hope through the talks this time, our two sides would be able to achieve a win-win situation so that people across the Taiwan Strait can live better," said Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), before departing.

He said his four-day trip to Beijing is a "journey to build mutual trust" with China, a long-time rival of the island since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

The two sides had their first historic talks in 1993 in Singapore, but China suspended further dialogue in 1999 to retaliate against Taiwan leaders' advocating independence.