Japanese trading house Marubeni has said it has received an order for 16 Nikon LCD-making machines from China's Beijing BOE Display Technology. The equipment will be installed in the China-based company's 8.5-generation thin film transistor LCD panel production line.

Meeting that goal would require the president to engage in a fight to the death with the liberal wing of his own party, persuade China to allow its currency to appreciate 40%, get global economic growth to outperform the salad days from 2003 to 2007, and lower taxes for American companies that do business abroad. And, while he is at it, forget about strengthening the dollar in the foreseeable future.

Japan's exports grew for the first time in 15 months in December 2009, according to the finance ministry. Its exports to China expanded 42.8% to 1.1 trillion yen in the month.

China's Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. (AMEC) also made a payment to Applied Materials of an undisclosed amount, and the parties agreed to collaborate on projects in the future.

China says its dispute with US search giant Google should not be linked to Beijing's relations with Washington.

Chinese authorities have signaled that bank lending would slow significantly in 2010, the latest in a series of moves intended to forestall inflation and stave off bubbles in the stock and property markets.

China has said its economy expanded by 8.7% in 2009, exceeding even the government's own initial expectations.

Google's struggles here - wrestling both with political compromises and with threats to its intellectual property - raise the question: How much hassle are China's consumers worth?

China was fast with its stimulus program...even though the country has been climbing nicely out of recession, the government still plans to spend the full US$600 billion of stimulus money.

Yahoo has given its support to rival Google, denouncing an alleged cyber attack originating in China against Google's network infrastructure.

Internet giant Google has made a shock threat to quit China, the world's biggest Internet market by users, after hackers accessed human rights activists' e-mail accounts.

"China's exports largely consist of low-value everyday goods like cheap electrical appliances and textiles - but that's a long way from where it wants to be..."

Taiwan's anti-China opposition has won all three legislative seats up for grabs in by-elections, giving it more clout to propose bills in parliament and further pressuring the Beijing-friendly ruling Nationalists.

China's exports probably ended a 13-month slide in December, aiding an economic rebound that has so far depended on government stimulus measures and a credit-fueled building boom.

A recent research by SEMI indicates China is committed to narrow the gap between its IC production and consumption. "In addition to investments in the macro economy, the Chinese government also remains the biggest investor in the semiconductor industry in China..."

China exported US$957 billion of goods in the first 10 months of 2009, compared with US$917 billion for Germany, according to customs data compiled by Global Trade Information Services.

Huawei has spread especially quickly across the developing world and it has benefited from large spending by China's state-owned mobile carriers as they expand their 3G networks.

Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party has said the government has failed to attract large amount of Chinese investment to bolster the island's economy.

The lawsuit was filed in October after Google scanned one of Mian Mian's books, Acid House, into its library. She is seeking damages of 61,000 yuan (US$8,950) and a public apology.

"We have seen this in Japan in the 1980's. I certainly hope that China is not going to repeat the mistakes that Japan made 20-30 years ago," said Dong Tao, chief Asia economist of Credit Suisse.

The World Trade Organization has ruled that China's practice of funneling media imports to state-owned companies violates international trade laws. The ruling was a result of complaints filed by a number of US media companies, which contend that China's practices illegally restrict business opportunities.

China Mobile, the world's biggest phone company by subscribers, said Monday its deputy chairman is under investigation for unspecified offenses, adding to a string of scandals at major Chinese state-owned companies.

China streaked ahead of its western and Asian rivals at the weekend by unveiling the world's fastest long-distance passenger train service. The improvement illustrates how China's huge investment in infrastructure is dramatically shrinking the country.

Beijing's top negotiator for Taiwan and his Taiwanese counterpart have signed a series of business accords, and said agreements on free trade and IP rights would be negotiated in talks slated for the first half of 2010. Critics fear that the move will eventually lead to unification with the Chinese mainland.

China's growth may surge to as much as 12% in 2010, thanks to a rebound in exports and domestic spending.

Nokia and ST-Ericsson have announced a long-term partnership in the area of TD-SCDMA technology and ICs. As part of the partnership, Nokia will use ST-Ericsson as a supplier of chipsets for its Symbian-based TD-SCDMA portfolio.

Taiwan Stock Exchange Chairman Schive Chi said Chinese companies may list on the island as early as 2010. "When the ECFA is signed with China next year, it's a good opportunity for Chinese firms to list in Taiwan and we aim for that to happen in the next year..."

The chairman of China Unicom finally has some sales figures to report.

Rich states meet emissions targets by paying poor countries to do the cutting, under Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism. However, rich countries account for most of the past emissions that now fill the air, but less than half the world's current emissions.