The head of the IMF questioned on Monday any debate about when to roll back stimulus spending, saying the world economy had yet to weather the worst of a recession that claimed a record number of European jobs. The 16-country euro zone lost a record 1.22 million jobs in the first quarter, official data showed. Employment during the first quarter fell 1.2 percent year-on-year, the deepest annual drop since measurements started in 1995. Even if some form of economic recovery is not far off, analysts say unemployment will climb for many months to come.

OZ Minerals Ltd. shareholders Thursday approved the sale of US$1.39 billion of assets to China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals Co. with the transaction now set to be completed within a week, The Wall Street Journal reported. Minmetals increased its offer to US$1.39 billion from US$1.2 billion late Wednesday, shortly after a rival 1.4 billion Australian dollar (US$1.13 billion) recapitalization proposal from Macquarie Group Ltd. was withdrawn.

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding has expressed interest in acquiring Volvo, becoming the second Chinese company to eye the Swedish unit of Ford Motor Co., according to three people familiar with the situation, The Wall Street Journal reported. A team of executives from Chinese government-owned Beijing Auto was expected to visit Volvo's Swedish headquarters as early as Thursday to meet with its executives and tour its research-and-development and manufacturing facilities, the knowledgeable people said.

Chinese state media have confirmed plans to merge China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, creating an aviation company with a dominant position in domestic hub Shanghai, Agence France-Presse reported. “Starting June 8, China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines officially began their restructuring procedures," said Liu Jiangbo, a China Eastern spokesman, according to Xinhua news agency late Monday. He declined to provide any further details, according to Xinhua.

Italian automaker Fiat SpA is still interested in Germany's Opel despite losing a bid to take over the General Motors Corp unit, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday, Reuters reported. Fiat lost out last week to Canadian car parts maker Magna International Inc in a bid for Opel, but Marchionne's comments suggested Fiat might yet be a factor in the deal. "The deal technically is not closed, we will see," Marchionne said, adding that Fiat had not yet used a €1 billion ($1.42 billion) line of credit from banks.

The Chinese government’s largest investment ever in a Western company, a proposed $19.5 billion stake in the Australian-British mining giant Rio Tinto Group, collapsed early Friday, dealing a blow both to China’s global corporate ambitions and to its efforts to gain clout in the natural resources market, The New York Times reported. The board of Rio Tinto announced the decision after meeting in London on Thursday, saying the company had ended the deal it struck in February to sell the stake to China’s state-owned Aluminum Corporation of China, also known as Chinalco.

The Chinese bidder for Hummer says it plans to give the gas-guzzling vehicles new life by promoting the brand around the world, including China, and by investing in clean-engine technologies. However, little in the short history of Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. suggests how it might pull off the turnaround of General Motors Corp.'s Hummer brand, a collection of rugged sport-utility vehicles based on the concept of the U.S. military Humvee vehicle, The Wall Street Journal reported.

General Motors Corp. may continue growing in China, its second-largest market, as ties with the city of Shanghai ease local drivers’ concerns about the automaker’s collapse into bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported. “In times of duress, it’s nice to have a 50-50 partnership with a very wealthy and powerful city,” said Michael Dunne, managing director of JD Power & Associates China, an automotive consultant.

A bond default by a Chinese timber company is the latest example of trouble emerging from complex debt deals that foreign investors rushed to strike in China during the past few years, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mandra Forestry Finance Ltd. missed a May 15 payment on $195 million in senior debt that was issued four years ago and matures in May 2013, the company said. Mandra said it is reviewing alternatives, which could include selling the firm.

Bidders for German carmaker Opel are being pressed to make last-minute changes to their offers ahead of a meeting on Wednesday that could narrow the field of potential investors in the General Motors unit, Reuters reported. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has been considering offers for Opel from Italy's Fiat, Canadian auto parts company Magna International and Belgium-listed industrial holding RHJ International.