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BEIJING – China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has expressed ‘reservations’  about a World Trade Organization (WTO) expert panel which has ruled that part of China’s anti-dumping and countervailing measures on certain vehicles from the US were inconsistent with WTO rules. Beijing imposed antidumping tariffs of between 2% and 8.9% on American cars and SUVs with an engine displacement of more than 2.5 litees in December 2011, saying that these vehicles were being sold to dealers in China for less than the full cost of manufacturing them.

SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's has affirmed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term unsolicited issuer credit ratings on Taiwan, with the outlook stable.
It says Taiwan's strong external position, sound monetary management, and dynamic information technology companies in the private sector support the ratings. Tempering these strengths are its moderate Government debt and a small, open economy that is vulnerable to global economic volatility.

BEIJING - A third round of talks for the China-EU investment treaty will take place in Beijing early next month. Negotiations on the treaty between are still at the beginning stage, said an official from the Ministry of Commerce, but both sides are committed to achieving a deal.

BANGKOK – Thai International says all THAI flights will continue to operate as scheduled despite a curfew between 10 pm and 5 am across Thailand It says travellers are recommended to arrive at the airport three hours before scheduled departure time, and be prepared to offer  travel documents for inspection if required during transit to the airport.

BEIJING – China’s President, Xi Jinping, has called for a common, comprehensive, co-operative and sustainable security strategy for Asia in his keynote speech at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). He proposed that CICA become a security dialogue and co-operation platform for all of Asia, from which countries can explore the possibility of creating a regional security framework.

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have signed off on a long-awaited gas deal in Shanghai, ending decade-long natural gas supply talks between the two neighbours. Under the roughly US$400 billion pact, Gazprom will supply China with 38 billion cu m of gas annually for 30 years, starting in 2018, through a planned Eastern pipeline that will connect Russia to Heilongjiang province and from there travel to industrialised cities along China's eastern coast.

BANGKOK – In a response to the imposition of martial law in Thailand, ANZ Bank has downgraded its GDP growth projections for the country for 2014 from 2.2% to just 1.3%. While martial law might be the necessary and sufficient step towards ending months of protracted political uncertainty, it is unlikely to arrest a still-deteriorating economic outlook, ANZ says.