As world leaders assemble in London for the Group of 20 summit this week, the latest evidence of the severity of the economic crisis emerged from Asia on Wednesday (April 1).

China on Tuesday denied suggestions it could be involved in a cyber-espionage ring that attacked computers worldwide from servers mostly based in the country. GhostNet, a network that affected 1,295 computers in more than 100 countries through malware and social engineering, was described in a study last weekend.

China is working on a plan to establish a union in silicon materials industry so as to cope with the ongoing financial crisis, said Zhu Lihui, secretary general of the semi-conductor materials branch under China Electronics Materials Industry Association.

The Centre for Democracy and Technology told the BBC: "China's actions fail to live up to international norms." The video sharing site has been off limits in China since Monday. Earlier in the week, the BBC reported from Beijing that China cut off access to the website because it carried a video showing soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans.

Broadcom Corp has announced that its continued collaboration with RaisingSun Digital Video Technology Co of Shanghai, China, has produced a next-generation 'all-in-one' digital television (DTV) turnkey solution that supports all Chinese broadcasting standards, including AVS, as well as Internet connectivity.

China Mobile missed forecasts with its slowest quarterly profit growth since 2005 and warned a deepening financial crisis will pressure subscriber growth as local competition gets tougher.

Many Asian countries are handing out cash and vouchers to get people spending again. But real economic recovery may take a lot more. One-off payments aren't about to alter lifelong saving habits. To encourage higher spending, governments really need to improve public health, education, and retirement benefits—initiatives that would take years to kick in.

Inspur International, a Hong Kong-listed computer and information technology company, has said it's not interested in acquiring a stake in Qimonda AG, the memory-chipmaker that filed for insolvency in January. The Financial Times Deutschland reported on March 16 that the Shandong-based company would acquire about 50% of Qimonda to help the company exit bankruptcy.

China's demand for polysilicon will make up less than 45% of its annual production capacity in 2009 due to fast capacity expansion and lowering demand, according to a report by CLSA Limited.

Flat-screen maker LG Display expects a more than 50 percent rise in shipments of LCD TV panels in China in 2009, Gyo-Young Song, sales chief in charge of south China, said on Wednesday.

China exports dropped an "ugly" 25.7% in February after January's 17.5% fall. The government is trying to boost domestic spending to alleviate the pain

China should let the yuan rise 3% against the dollar in 2009 to deter capital outflows and help the country make overseas acquisitions, said Wang Jian, a researcher affiliated with the nation's top planning agency.

Chinese consumer prices showed an annual fall in February for the first time since 2002, figures have shown.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said the current year will be the most difficult the country has faced this century because of the global economic crisis.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who delivered his Cabinet's work report to the parliament's 3,000 delegates, said China would be able to achieve 8% growth in the economy. The government plans to spend 146 billion yuan (US$21 billion) on its science and technology sector, up 25% from 2008; 293 billion yuan in social security and 130 billion yuan to speed up recovery in areas hit by the massive deadly earthquake that struck Sichuan province in August.

Consumers in Australia are buying small screen HD flat panel TV's and 100Hz models in record numbers despite many vendors running out of stock over the peak December January period according to GFK sources. This coupled with an increase in global demand for small screen TV's has seen manufacturers in Taiwan and China increase production by up to 20%.

US stocks headed for a sharp rebound at the open on Wednesday after a sell-off the previous session left indexes at 12-year lows, with a jump in the price of oil and other commodities spurring energy and natural resource stocks.

Hangzhou Motorola Cellular Equipment, a joint venture between Motorola and Hangzhou Eastern Communications, will cease cell phone production by the first quarter of 2009, underlining the extended woes of the US communications giant's troubled mobile phone business. The mobile phone production line will switch to producing TV set-top boxes in the future, said Chen Lei, a spokersperson of Motorola China.

Programmable chipmaker Altera said on Monday first-quarter sales would decline by a more moderate percentage than it previously expected thanks to demand for next-generation wireless equipment in China.

Japan-based electronics titan Hitachi is likely to scale back its TV business in Mainland China in a planned business reorganization, disclosed sources familiar with the matter on March 2.

Some media reported that Sharp Corp is in talks with SVA (Group) of China on forming an alliance to produce LCD TV panels in China.

China Unicom has reportedly reached an agreement with Apple on iPhone's entry into China and the 3G iPhone may appear in the Chinese market in May 2009.

ST to show key applications for energy efficiency at IIC-China 2009, including green air-conditioning, eBike, and Solar-LED street lights in Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center - Booth 2G01