The four major state-owned banks in China saw the number of money saved in their vaults plunge more than 460 billion yuan (US$72 billion) in early June even after interest rates were raised, forcing them to face tremendous pressure to keep up with government's loan targets.  read more

China's Bright Food Group will pay an undisclosed sum for a 70% stake in Bordeaux wine exporter Diva, a privately-held business that reports 45% of its sales in China and 60% in Asian markets, Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported.  read more

The total revenue of Chinese online mall Taobao will surpass Walmart in four years, according to Zeng Ming, senior vice president of Chinese internet firm and Taobao owner Alibaba, quoted in our sister newspaper Commercial Times.  read more

A report by the New York Times on Friday last week said Beijing has falsified electricity statistics to disguise the slowdown of the Chinese economy, which has sparked a refutation from the chief economist at American bank Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, reports Shanghai's First Financial Daily.  read more

China is expected to issue 1 trillion yuan (US$157 billion) in loans in June, thus completing 60% of its goal of lending 8 trillion yuan (US$1.256 trillion) this year, reports the First Financial Daily in Shanghai.  read more

China, the fastest growing market for luxury goods in the world, has shown signs that its performance has been sliding since the first quarter of this year.  read more

FOREIGN direct investment in China edged up 0.05 percent from a year earlier in May, ending a six-month losing streak and indicating foreign investors' renewed confidence in the world's second-largest economy. With the small but encouraging increase, inbound foreign investment rose to US$9.23 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday. The gain was in contrast to the 0.74 percent drop in April and the slump of 6.1 percent in March.  read more

CHINA has offered US$43 billion to the IMF's crisis-fighting reserves, rounding off a global push to nearly double the fund's war chest to US$456 billion to help protect countries from fallout from the eurozone debt crisis. China's contribution on Monday was part of a pledge by Group of 20 countries made in April to supply the International Monetary Fund with extra firepower.  read more

Along with its decision to lower its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on June 8, the People's Bank of China gave banks leeway in adjusting their rates by 10% around the benchmark, in what has been seen as a step toward liberalization of borrowing in China, reports Chinese-language financial news site Yicai.  read more

Beijing is increasingly concerned about the European debt crisis and has been bracing for its impact even as sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation reduces its holdings of European bonds and stocks.  read more