The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Thursday improved governance, better quality of regulation and infrastructure can help South Asian economies emerge as "New Tigers" of Asia.

Dunhuang in northwest China's Gansu Province is planning to build an international airport because the number of overseas tourists flocking in to see the ancient Buddhist cave paintings is growing by 30 percent annually.

China imported 109.25 tons of crude oil in the first three quarters of this year.

China's industrial output in the first nine months of 2006 totaled 6.22 trillion yuan (777.76 billion U.S. dollars), up 17.2 percent over the same period last year, which was 0.9 percentage point higher than the rise at the same time last year.

China's consumer prices were up 1.3 percent in the first three quarters over the same period last year, said the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

China's retail sales of consumer goods rose to 5.5 trillion yuan (688.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months, up 13.5 percent from the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Thursday.

China's fixed asset investment rose to 7.19 trillion yuan (899.3 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of this year, up by 27.3 percent from the same period last year, a spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.

A gang of around 200 native Indians armed with bows and arrows and pieces of wood attacked and seized an Amazon mining complex on Wednesday.

With videos of snow-capped peaks and scenic valleys, the governor of the U.S. state of Utah launched a tourism campaign in Beijing Wednesday to lure more Chinese tourists.

China lost around 18 to 20 million tons of grain annually due to inadequate storage by farmers, the State Grain Administration has claimed.