China | featured news

The specter of corruption continued to hound China’s leaders Friday, the second day of a week-long Communist Party congress at which the country’s next generation of top leaders are expected to be unveiled.

China's communist elite are meeting to install a new generation of leaders in a process that is part public show and part backroom politicking. At the center of the spectacle is the Communist Party congress, a gathering held once every five years that is the 18th such event in the party's history. The congress is more interlude than climax. Important decisions are made by current and retired leaders, some of whom are not even on the congress delegates' roster, in bargaining that began years ago and has largely been already resolved.

People overseas who were asked to comment on the US election looked forward to President Obama turning more attention globally, where serious matters remain such as China's rising ambitions and Iran's nuclear program. But what he should do depends on who one talks to.

The murder of the British businessman, Neil Heywood, is still seen as stemming from a financial dispute, but the intelligence links add an enticing subplot to his death.

China filed a complaint to the WTO charging the EU with violating rules governing subsidies to its solar components industry.

China is imposing a blizzard of restrictions to ensure stability during a major leadership change, and its crackdown extends even to toys and the back seats of cabs.

China is set to promote two rising stars and possible future national leaders at a Communist Party congress opening next week, one taking the old job of disgraced former high-flyer Bo Xilai in the country's biggest metropolis, sources said.

China on Thursday called for a phased-in cease-fire and negotiations on a gradual political transition to end the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. A four-point proposal issued by the Foreign Ministry stopped short of calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad and omitted mention of any measures to compel compliance. Alongside Russia, China has steadfastly blocked any outside intervention that could force Assad from power, much to the consternation of the U.S. and other countries seeking a swift end to the 19-month-old conflict, which has killed more than 35,000 people.

Hong Kong was named the world's top financial center for the second year running by the World Economic Forum (WEF), thanks to the strength of its business environment, infrastructure and a favorable tax regime.

A Chinese government think tank is urging the country's leaders to start phasing out its one-child policy immediately and allow two children for every family by 2015, a daring proposal to do away with the unpopular policy....