Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries have proposed to draw a list of goods that should be protected under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which is under discussion between ESA and the European Union (EU), Zambian newspaper The Post reported on Monday.

Vietnam will equitize over 1,500 state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including those operating in sectors important to its economy, in the 2006-2010 period.

China's safety supervisor said on Monday on its website that 9,007 people were killed in 53,173 accidents nationwide in October.

China has collected over 20 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) in special tax on the profits of its crude oil producers since March, said China's Vice Finance Minister Lou Jiwei.

Hong Kong share prices set a history record Monday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index surged 186.86 points, or 1 percent to 18936.55, breaking the previous record of 18,749.69 on Friday.

China's Social Security fund has earned 60 billion yuan (7.5 billion U.S. dollars) from its investments in the Bank of Communication, the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Expo Real Asia 2006, the first large-scale real estate industry conference and exhibition in Macao, will be held from Dec. 4 to 6, 2006, the organizer for the event said in Hong Kong Monday.

The State Oceanic Administration announced that China discovered a cobalt-rich ferromanganese crust area in its first round-the-world sea expedition last year. Preparations are now underway to mine this area, which will be China's second mine in international seabed area.

The finance industry is playing an increasingly important role in the economic development of Beijing. During the first half of this year, added value products from Beijing's financial sector were worth 46 billion yuan, accounting for 13 percent of the regional GDP. For Beijing Financial Street alone, revenue for the first half of the year was 47.62 billion yuan, accounting for 24 percent of total revenue.

It was announced on November 6 that China's auto market will surpass Japan's to become the second largest in the world before the end of this year.