19th September 09

The New York Times

N. Korea Suggests Possible Return to Nuclear Talks

SEOUL, South Korea — In a potential shift of policy, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, told a visiting Chinese envoy on Friday that his government was willing to return to multilateral talks to discuss its nuclear weapons program, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Recovery Picks Up in China as U.S. Still Ails

WUXI, China — Just eight months ago, thousands of Chinese workers rioted outside factories closed by the global downturn. Now many of those plants have reopened and are hiring again. Some executives are even struggling to find enough temporary staff to fill Christmas orders.

The Age

Chinese buyers fuel top-end property boom

NICK Johnstone is a man on a mission. Next week, the Brighton estate agent will fly to Shanghai with the aim of selling 30 of Melbourne's most expensive homes to Chinese buyers.

Asia Times Online

China faces a retail reality check
By Olivia Chung

HONG KONG - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned this month that his country's economic rebound was "unstable", suggesting that the populist premier puts more trust in the experience of the country's consumers and retailers than in official statistics. His countrymen are prepared to buy - but not yet at a price that drives profits, and without profit, economic growth is a myth.

China in Laos: Counting the cost of progress
By Daniel Allen

BEIJING - At Kunming's long-distance bus station, a sleeper bus crammed with Chinese laborers edges toward the exit, en-route to the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Despite the prospect of an uncomfortable 40-hour journey ahead, this group of wiry, chain-smoking men is buoyed by the expectation of a reasonable salary and a chance to take China's economic miracle southward. "Laos is poor and dirty," says one. "But we have many friends there already. We can make money and help make Laos more like China."