When China offered 30 years ago to set up transport links with Taiwan, the island's government said no. As China's economy grew, Taiwan wavered. On December 15 ships, aircraft and mail at last began routine daily crossings directly across the Taiwan Strait. A jubilant Chinese official declared it "the final part of our economic circle with Taiwan."

Chinese telecom operators will spend about $41 billion on next generation (3G) mobile networks over the next two years, the government said on Friday.

A Taiwanese jetliner departed Monday for China to open a new era of direct air and shipping services with the mainland, formally ending a nearly six-decade ban on regular links between the rivals.

The fall in exports suggests China's economy has deteriorated despite a massive stimulus package meant to boost growth by encouraging Chinese consumers to spend more. The trade decline is also a setback for foreign exporters who hoped China might help support global demand as the United States weakened.

Chinese and European leaders plotted their next steps as investors looked to governments to lead major economies out of recession because central banks could start running out of room to cut interest rates further.

The growth pace of China's new energy industry is seriously dented by oil price slump and demand shrinkage due to the global financial crisis, according to analysts.

The center, jointly formed by Shanghai University and SVA Electron will lay the groundwork for a 2.5G AMOLED production base, which some experts say will attract an investment of about 1.5-2billion yuan.

ZTE, China's No. 2 telecoms equipment vendor, expects the country's high-speed third-generation technology to be adopted outside of China as soon as 2009, despite "flaws" that will need to be ironed out.

World leaders are to continue talks on measures to limit the current financial turmoil at a summit in Washington. They hope to agree on long-term reforms to cut the risk of further crises and a coordinated economic stimulus plan. China is likely to be key to any reforms agreed. With nearly $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and an economy that is still expanding, albeit at a slower pace, it is one of the few countries attending that has the cash to help countries in distress.

"The downturn trend in our economy is more obvious, especially since September. We hope a rapid downturn in growth will not occur," said Mu Hong, a deputy chairman of the nation's main planning agency. Beijing is moving quickly to launch the package and will distribute most of a planned 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in additional government spending within the next two weeks. The plan calls for higher spending on infrastructure and social programs in an effort to spur domestic consumer spending and reduce reliance on exports.

Chinese leaders are alarmed at a sharp drop in economic growth, which fell to 9 percent in the most recent quarter. That is the highest for any major economy, but below last year's 11.9 percent and dangerously slow for a government that needs robust growth to satisfy a public that has come to expect steadily rising incomes. "The global financial crisis has had a considerable impact on China's export growth, which will continue to show weakness with recession in the US and Europe," ...

First-generation TD-SCDMA is designed to offer top speeds of 384k bps which, if attained, would be as fast as a typical ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) connection in China. However, the TD-SCDMA USIM cards issued so far have "128k" stamped on them, which points to lower speeds on the trial service.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has met China's senior envoy to the island in the highest level contact since 1949. The brief meeting was brought forward five hours to avoid continuing protests by Taiwanese pro-independence groups. Ma defended his agreements with Beijing, saying they did not damage Taiwan's sovereignty.

Plasma panels continue to maintain a price gap with equivalent LCD TV panels. For example, 42" HD plasma panels (including power supply and optical filter) are now 25% less than 42" 720p LCD panel prices and 31% less than 1080p (including power supply). A similar comparison shows that 50" HD plasma panels are 45% less than 52" 1080p LCD panels (and 29% less than 50" 1080p plasma panels).