China
New Zealand and China will soon hold a series of high-level meetings and work to promote free trade, the countries' governments said on Friday, amidst growing concerns about U.S. trade protectionism.
U.S. President Donald Trump changed tack and agreed to honor the "one China" policy during a phone call with China's leader, a major diplomatic boost for Beijing which brooks no criticism of its claim to neighboring Taiwan.
Asian shares rallied to an 18-month peak on Friday, as investors cheered upbeat Chinese trade data and strong gains on Wall Street after U.S. President Donald Trump promised to unveil a major tax announcement to lower the burden on businesses.
China posted much stronger-than-expected trade data for January as demand picked up at home and abroad, an encouraging start to 2017 for the world's largest trading nation even as Asia braces for a rise in U.S. protectionism under President Donald Trump.
Oil prices were stable on Friday, supported by strong Chinese crude imports and OPEC-led production cuts, although ample U.S. fuel inventories weighed on the market.
A U.S. Navy P-3 plane and a Chinese military aircraft came close to each other over the South China Sea in an incident the Navy believes was inadvertent, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday.
The dollar was buoyant on Friday, rising to a 1-1/2-week high versus the yen, on comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that he would announce the most ambitious tax reform plan since the Reagan era in the next few weeks.
China's customs said on Friday that pressure on the country's exports is expected to ease at the start of the second quarter this year.
Six officials in central China's Hubei province have been punished for dozing off in a meeting on how to motivate lazy bureaucrats, state media and the local government said.
Liesbeth Foesters travels for business around the world, but none of her hotel rooms was smaller than the one she got in Singapore. Her company has a tight budget.
