China’s economy may have expanded about 8.4% in the first quarter, the least since the first half of 2009, according to an estimate given by an official 10 days before the data is due.

STRONG demand in north-east Asia has delivered a surge in Irish pork exports to the core markets of China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, according to the latest Bord Bia analysis.

China’s economy is safe from a “double-dip” slowdown in growth, a top economic planner said today, though he acknowledged challenges in keeping inflation under control and cutting back on excessive and wasteful investments.

CHINA acknowledged yesterday it is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, as it called on the United States to ensure climate change talks make progress.

CHINA’s government estimates it will cost $147 billion (€99.3bn) to rebuild from the massive earthquake that struck the central part of the country in May, according to state media.

Snowstorms that have battered many parts of China over the last three weeks have killed at least 60 people and caused 53.3bn Yuan (€5bn) in damage.

China will take part in a climate change meeting convened by the US government this week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said today.

THE agreement on climate change reached at Heiligendamm by the G8 leaders merely sets the stage for the real debate to come: how will we divide up the diminishingcapacity of the atmosphere toabsorb our greenhouse gases?

China promised today to better control emissions of greenhouse gases, unveiling a new national programme to combat global warming, but rejected mandatory caps on emissions it said was unfair to developing countries.

The head of the International Monetary Fund says higher fuel prices will continue for the foreseeable future, as the world’s seven largest economic powers gather in Washington today.

China and Japan began talks today on a dispute over gas deposits in the East China Sea amid increasingly strained relations.

China ordered 150 Airbus single-aisle A320 airliners today, more than twice as many plane orders than the company’s US-based rival Boeing received from China last month.

Major Chinese car maker Shanghai Automotive Industry Group (Corp) is still in takeover talks with Britain’s MG Rover Group, a senior official at China’s national planning agency said today.

Chinese car giant Shanghai Automotive is preparing to submit plans to acquire ailing Rover in the next few days, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has said.