The presidents of Taiwan and China exchanged direct messages Monday for the first time since the two sides split 60 years ago — the latest sign of their warming relations.

The slide in Japan's exports slowed in June in a sign government stimulus spending around the world may be propping up demand.

Federal agencies are facing a severe shortage of computer specialists, according to a private study.

Beijing now expects China to achieve 8% growth for 2009 as a whole, which compares with a predicted contraction of between 1% and 1.5% in the US. However, the Chinese government warned that some economic challenges remain.

The primary cause of China's ballooning foreign currency reserves is not the surplus of the country's exports over its imports, but the result of overseas investors pouring money into property and shares...

Taiwan hopes to sign an economic pact with China in 2010, Lai Shin-yuan, minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, said in Washington on Tuesday (July 14), according to a statement from the island's China policy-making agency.

Governments across Asia have launched massive stimulus packages focused on renewable energy in recent months, and some analysts think the new infusion of cash could reshape a solar industry reeling from the economic downturn.

South Korea has announced that it had concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU that it hoped would encourage US lawmakers to ratify a free trade deal with the country.

The government will issue two casino licenses for gaming operations on the offshore island of Penghu initially, which will be affiliated with holiday villages, similar to the pattern of Singapore, according to Mao Chi-kuo, minister of transportation and communications.

A delegation of Chinese Government officials and technology companies are in the UK this week looking for technology expertise and business partnerships.

The meetings have rarely produced anything of consequence, so this summit in Italy should be the last. Much worse, it doesn't include the real economic powers of tomorrow: China, India and Brazil.

Following last weekend's deadly riots in its western region of Xinjiang, China's central government has taken all the usual steps to block citizens from accessing foreign web services.

China could be an unexpected laggard to any global recovery, with its economy set to remain sluggish after a long run of bubble-like investment in factories and other fixed assets wears off, some analysts say.

Telecom operator China Unicom is investing 20 billion yuan (US$2.93 billion) in Shanghai over the next three years to expand and upgrade its network in the city.

China's manufacturing expanded for a fourth month as a 4 trillion yuan (US$585 billion) stimulus plan and record bank lending revive the world's third-largest economy.

Finland and China have recently signed high-tech contracts worth US$1 billion (euro720,000) and planned new top-level trade talks aimed at further deals worth more than US$2 billion, according to Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang.

Japanese PC chip maker Elpida Memory will receive financial support of about 200 billion yen ($2.1 billion) from the government and public and private sector banks, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

China, which has criticized protectionist moves elsewhere, is pushing ahead with efforts to ensure that its gargantuan economic stimulus package benefits domestic firms.

Canadian Solar plans to boost its annual production capacity from 620 megawatts to 800 MW by end-August, to meet an expected surge in demand, according to company president and CEO Shawn Qu.

Beijing is expected to unveil subsidized prices for solar power production as soon as the second half of the year, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday, citing an industry official.

A senior Chinese official has said China wants to produce one-fifth of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020, a significant increase on the current target.

Solar power leaders remain hopeful in what could be a huge upturn in US solar demand, but continue to be careful about the rest of 2009 after being hit hard from the global credit predicament.

Optimists argue that the government's loose credit and fiscal policies have succeeded in staving off the worst of the economic downturn. However, there are growing concerns about the impact of these policies on the public finances.

In my opinion, it's time for Taiwan's DRAM makers to merge, consolidate--or give up. The time is now. Not next quarter or next year. Now! There is a plan to consolidate Taiwan's DRAM makers, but so far, no one has budged.

Asia's governments must spend more on social safety nets and reduce their reliance on export-driven growth as they grapple with an economic meltdown that will keep tens of millions trapped in poverty, finance officials said Sunday.

Industrial output in Japan rose in March for the first time in six months, according to government figures. Production rose by 1.6% in March compared with February, after months of dramatic decline.

Things are looking up for Xugong Group, China's largest heavy machinery maker. Driven by Beijing's five-month-old US$586 billion fiscal stimulus, sales of its bulldozers, wheel loaders, and construction cranes reached an all-time high in March, a spokesman says.

Signs that a giant fiscal stimulus is starting to work in China. However, China still needs to find a new engine for future growth. Reforms to improve health care and the social safety net will take many years to encourage people to save less.

UK government funding is needed as the credit crunch threatens a generation of small high-tech companies, a business investment group has warned. The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts said the UK could lose its global standing in areas such as healthcare and biotechnology.

German chipmaker Infineon is in negotiations with the government over state guarantees worth several hundred million euros (dollars), the Welt am Sonntag paper reported Sunday.

Japan's government is considering providing funds to Elpida Memory to bolster its capital, NHK said, without providing an amount or saying where it got the information.

China's exports increased last month, but still were down 17% year-on-year, according to figures released by the Chinese government. Imports to China dropped 25% on year to US$72 billion.

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso announced a historic US$150 billion stimulus package Friday aimed to turn around the recession in the world's second-largest economy.

Japan's second lost decade holds worrying lessons for other rich economies. Its large fiscal stimulus succeeded in preventing a depression in the 1990s after its bubble burst—and others are surely correct to follow today. But Japan's failure to spur a strong domestic recovery a decade later suggests that America and Europe may also have a long, hard journey ahead.

...In the long run, they say, there will be only three viable entities, at least at the leading edge of chipmaking: Samsung in memory chips, Intel in microprocessors and TSMC in foundries. The rest will be "nationalistic" ventures in need of regular government bail-outs.

Some are suggesting it's time to buy beaten-down solar stocks, while others are arguing there's value because bad news is priced in and good news is starting to emerge. Wall Street analysts, often criticized for being blindly bullish on stocks, are this time among the sector's staunchest bears.

The Chinese government alerted all silicon, ingot, wafer, cell, and panel manufactures that it intends to announced a very aggressive Solar subsidy that is equivalent to US$3 per installed watt, in cash, as an incentive to aid the Chinese population to install solar. The Japanese may soon follow suit with an announcement of a substantial subsidy for solar installation.

The European Commission and Japan are going to deepen their collaboration in energy research. The primal areas for cooperation are photovoltaics, power storage and carbon capture and storage.