The German government raised on Friday its economic growth forecasts for 2006 and the next year, citing equipment and consumer spending as growth driving forces.

Gasoline prices continued to fall at an "unprecedented pace" in Southern California this week despite higher demand, the Automobile Club of Southern California reported on Friday.

Shares in Shanghai reached a five-year high of 1,801.33 points during Friday's morning session before slipping back to 1,790.36 points at the end of the day, two points below the level of the previous day.

Major industrial enterprises in China's capital chalked up 127.9 billion yuan (16.2 billion U.S. dollars) in value-added output in the first three quarters of the year, a growth of 15.6 percent year-on-year, according to the local statistical bureau.

The Consumer Price Index, a key barometer of the inflation rate, went up 2.1 percent in September 2006 over the same period of last year in Hong Kong, slightly down from 2.5 percent in August, revealed latest statistics Friday.

China's migrant workers born in the late 1970s and 1980s are refusing to follow in their parents' footsteps and do tough and dirty work in China's booming cities, according to a report about migrant workers.

Oil prices fell sharply on Friday as traders remained dubious about the ability of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to implement its cut plan.

The European Commission (EC) will issue a new policy document on the relations between the European Union (EU) and China next Tuesday, an EC spokesman told Xinhua on Friday.

Shanghai has absorbed increasing inflow of foreign funds against the backdrop of a slowdown in foreign investment in the whole country in the first three quarters, according to local commerce authorities.

The People's Bank of China (PBC) recently issued statistical data on finance for the third quarter. The data shows that the supply of money, lending and credit has decreased, which demonstrates the effectiveness of comprehensive controls.