China will raise the retail prices of gasoline by 390 yuan (62 U.S. dollars) per tonne and diesel by 370 yuan per tonne starting Friday, the country’s top economic planner said Thursday.     The move, which followed three consecutive cuts from May to July, marks the third such increase this year, due to a rebound in international crude oil prices. The benchmark retail price of gasoline will be lifted by 0.29 yuan per liter and diesel by 0.32 yuan per liter, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on its website. Under China’s oil product pricing [Read more...]

A man walks out of an ATM of a branch of China’s banking giant Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Shanghai on January 18, 2011. According reports, ICBC plans to open branches in Europe to expands its network in the region. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife) The Federal Reserve’s decision this week to green light the expansion plans of three massive state-owned Chinese banks, including the first-ever takeover of a group of U.S. bank branches by a Chinese lender, got tremendous media attention and seemed to play into general fears about China flexing its [Read more...]

Italian Government Department Cracks Down on Counterfeiting Activities in China for Fear of Damaging the Country’s Image Foreigners are joining the Chinese counterfeit crackdown team. Starting from the second half of 2011, the Intellectual Property Department of the Italian Trade Commission (ITC) has submitted to the Chinese Intellectual Property Office 3 lists of a total of 30 “pseudo-Italian” product brands. These pseudo-Italian brands claim their products are manufactured in Italy and use the country identity including cities in Italy and the Italian national flag to advertise [Read more...]