China will give half a million U.S. dollars to Central Asian countries to support their human resources development, said China's Vice Finance Minister Li Yong.

Africa's economy is growing steadily in recent years, which, analysts say, is being supported by a great number of favorable internal and external conditions.

Foreign-invested banks have become popular with Chinese consumers, particularly the new upper class who believe banking with a foreign bank is the mark of a high social status, according to an AC Nielsen study.

China has approved Ping An Life Insurance Co. Ltd. as a pilot company to invest foreign exchange premiums in overseas markets.

The 100th session of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair (CECF) ended its first phase on Friday with deals worth almost 22.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 5.8 percent from the 99 session.

California saw a solid gain in jobs in September despite the effect of the housing slowdown, according to statistics published on Saturday.

The rapid growth of China's economy has been relatively brought under control, but effects of macro-control measures need to be further consolidated, said Xie Fuzhan, director of China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Suzhou on Saturday.

The Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong said Saturday that travel agencies which force tourists to shop will face severe punishments, including license suspension.

China Construction Bank (CCB), one of China's major state-owned commercial banks, approved a plan on Friday to acquire the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of the Bank of America.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest Chinese lender, prices its shares at the top line of 3.07 HK dollars, the highest price for state-owned Chinese banks listed in Hong Kong, according to information available here Saturday.