China's leadership and central bank are ready to cut interest rates again and also loosen lending restrictions, concerned that falling prices could trigger a surge in debt defaults, business failures and job losses, said sources involved in policy-making.
Asia/Pacific
Recharge your phone in 30 seconds? Israeli firm says it can
An Israeli company says it has developed technology that can charge a mobile phone in a few seconds and an electric car in minutes, advances that could transform two of the world's most dynamic consumer industries.
Visteon eyes $3.6 billion sale of South Korean unit: reports
U.S. automotive parts maker Visteon Corp (VC.N) has signed a preliminary deal to sell its controlling stake in South Korea's Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp (018880.KS) to a local private equity firm for $3.6 billion, Korean media reports said.
BOJ's quantitative easing affecting Asian markets
Last month the Bank of Japan announced aggressive easing of its monetary policy and shocked the global financial markets.This led to the yen hitting fresh lows against the dollar. The weakening of the yen is believed to reverberate through the Asian markets.
Dalian Wanda moves closer to $6 billion HK IPO with China regulator approval: IFR
Chinese real estate developer Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties, a unit of billionaire Wang Jianlin's Dalian Wanda Group, has received approval from Chinese regulators to move ahead with an initial public offering in Hong Kong worth up to $6 billion, IFR reported, citing people familiar with the deal.
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Asian share markets were broadly higher on Monday as the prospect of further policy stimulus in China and Europe whetted risk appetites while sending the euro skidding.
A planned merger by Switzerland's Holcim Ltd and France's Lafarge to create the world's biggest cement maker might hurt competition in India, the country's antitrust regulator said on Saturday, asking the firms for more details.
The Chinese government and banks will finance Chinese companies to build $45.6 billion worth of energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan over the next six years, according to new details of the deal seen by Reuters on Friday.
China's latest interest rate cut is set to dent the profitability of domestic lenders, especially mid-sized banks, which are already suffering from higher bad loans and a slowdown in profit growth.
A flurry of private Chinese investment into Hollywood should prompt Beijing to loosen its restrictions on U.S. film imports, the mayor of Los Angeles said in China on Friday as he urged officials to raise the country's annual cap on foreign films.
China's Industrial and Commercial Bank (ICBC) signed a pact with the Los Angeles city government to promote cross-border yuan trade and set up an offshore renminbi center in California, the bank said on Saturday.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for "new growth engines" to counter slowing growth in the world's second largest economy, Xinhua reported late on Friday.
Recently released Chinese data suggest a grim economic outlook for the country. Foreign direct investment has been consistently declining; consumer price index showed some stability this month but remained below 2 percent, flash manufacturing PMI also declined in November and gross domestic product fell to its slowest pace since the global financial crisis, registering 7.3 percent year-on-year expansion in the third quarter.
While the fall in the oil prices is generally regarded as positive for many businesses, it has a major influence on inflation expectations, interest rates and bond prices at the global level.
