One of China's biggest cities is finalizing plans for a new tax on high-end residential real estate, state media reported, a long-discussed measure to escalate the fight against rising property prices that have fueled frustration among the country's urban middle class, The Wall Street Journal reported. The mayor of Chongqing, Huang Qifan, has recommended approval of the tax by the municipal legislature, and the Chinese Ministry of Finance has approved the tax in principle, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Sunday.

The Chinese-backed investor trying to buy 20 New Zealand farms -- most linked to the Crafar family -- has protected its deal by pushing the terms of settlement for the purchase of 16 farms in receivership out to September 30 this year, The National Business Review reported. Natural Dairy NZ Holdings told the Hong Kong stock exchange that its advisers needed time to consider the decision by two New Zealand cabinet ministers to refuse overseas investment approval for the farm sales.

China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang said China will sign $7.3 billion worth of deals with Spain on Wednesday, according to a Spanish official, after reiterating Beijing's pledge to back the crisis-ridden European nation's austerity measures and offer of potential support for Spain's future fundraising, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr.

Rising food prices helped push China's consumer price index to a two-year high of 5.1% in November, and nowhere are the pressures felt more deeply than with cooking oil, more vital in Chinese cooking than even rice, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rising oil prices mean daily hardship for Chinese on meager incomes. And though food represents only about one-third of the CPI, it accounts for about 75% of the index's recent rise. Such price challenges are a primary reason China's central bank abruptly raised interest rates twice in 10 weeks, most recently on Christmas Day.

China supports Spain's economic reforms and will continue buying Spanish government debt, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang wrote in a newspaper editorial, the latest sign of China's growing role in protecting the stability of the European Union, its largest export market, The Wall Street Journal reported. Spain has faced increasing difficulties in financing a yawning budget deficit after Greece's financial meltdown in early 2010 sparked concerns about the problems of other fiscally frail euro-zone countries.

China’s inflation may cool after manufacturing growth slowed in December because of a tighter monetary policy and the closure of energy-wasting and highly polluting factories, Bloomberg News reported today. Premier Wen Jiabao is seeking to limit bank lending and inflows of capital that could fuel inflation after a record expansion in credit drove the nation’s recovery. The central bank raised interest rates on Christmas Day and, six days later, the currency regulator said it was expanding a program to let exporters keep revenue overseas.

Growth in Chinese manufacturing activity slowed this month for the first time since July, an industry survey showed, but the reading remained relatively strong and analysts predicted further inflation-fighting measures from the government like interest-rate increases and currency appreciation, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, a monthly gauge based on a survey of executives, also showed that prices for factory inputs rose in December at their slowest rate in three months.

China’s commerce ministry announced a steep reduction in export quotas yesterday for rare earth metals in the first months of next year, a move that threatens to cause further difficulties for manufacturers already struggling with short supplies and soaring prices, the New York Times reported today. China mines more than 95 percent of the global supply of the metals, which are essential for smartphones, electric cars, many computer components and a range of military hardware.

China raised interest rates for the second time in slightly over two months, signaling the authorities' resolve to combat rising inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The People's Bank of China said Saturday that it will raise the one-year yuan lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.81 percent from 5.56 percent, and the one-year yuan deposit rate to 2.75 percent from 2.50 percent. The move comes after the central bank raised on Oct.

China plans to tighten up rules governing sponsors of initial public offerings (IPO) after a surge of new issues this year sparked concerns about the quality of disclosure in IPO prospectuses, Reuters reported today. Under the new rules, IPO sponsors will be interviewed by the securities regulator regarding the due diligence process of a new issue and IPO sponsors will also be required to complete a due diligence check-list and sign off a declaration that they are aware of the legal consequences of negligent acts.