The monetary authority has been limiting gains in the Taiwan dollar toward the close of trading almost every day since April.

Factory output growth eased in India and China in December, but strengthened in South Korea and Taiwan, narrowing a gap in manufacturing activity between much of developing Asia and the region's emerging economic giants.

Germany's economy is fueling the euro region's recovery as declining unemployment encourages consumer demand and companies boost investment, helping counter weaker exports.

The currency rose as much as 2.3% to NT$29.890 versus the greenback, its highest since October 1997, before trimming its gain to close at NT$30.45.

China's exports for November 2010 were up 34.9% versus a year earlier, compared with an expected 25%. In October the increase was only 22.9%.

What a long, strange trip it's been for the South Korea-US free trade agreement. The two sides announced this weekend that they've reached a deal on revisions to the draft that was signed in 2007 but never ratified. It comes not a moment too soon, given the boost this will give to a US economy stumbling its way to recovery and with tensions rising on the Korean peninsula.

Theoretically, that makes sense: The more dollars in the economy, the less valuable the currency. But from what we've seen - at least so far - the critics are wrong. The greenback's gains have been surprisingly good recently.

"Japanese should have the courage to open the county much wider and compete globally, because Japan has no choice but to depend on foreign trade for survival..."

October inflation hit a higher-than-expected 4.4%, up from September's 3.6%, the Bureau of Statistics said. It added that the government needed to do more to control price rises.

China, the world's largest producer of rare-earth metals, will speed up exports of the minerals after delays disrupted supply, according to Japan's Trade Minister Akihiro Ohata.

Instead of using China as a production base, Hynix in its early days produced a wide range of high-tech products in South Korea that it then exported to China and other countries.

Rare earth metals are sprinkled in a vast number of the things that make the modern world go round - from iPods to windturbines, electric car engines to flat-screen TVs and smart-bombs. The reason you'll hear a lot about them is 1) because China currently controls 93-97% of the world's production and 2) because China is enforcing strict new quotas on the exports of rare earths which is pushing up global prices sharply.

The US currency was quoted at 81.21 yen in early Thursday (October 14) trading in Tokyo - losing more ground against the Japanese currency after briefly recovering from a prior 15-year low of 81.37 yen struck in Sydney on Monday.

The recent dust-up between China and Japan suggested how neighbours can have incompatible interests. But in business, things are often rather different. In one example, China's emergence as a producer of sophisticated technology is helping strengthen one of the few big microchip businesses left in Japan.

Japan's export-led recovery has been constrained by the strong yen, which makes goods sold abroad more expensive and reduces the value of profits repatriated.

The world's major industrial economies can't all export their way to prosperity.

"China took the very important step in June of signaling that they're going to let the exchange rate start to reflect market forces. But they've done very, very little, they've let it move very, very little in the interim," said US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

The central bank stepped in to sell yen and buy dollars, a day after the yen hit a 15-year high against the dollar. It is the first time in six years that the Bank of Japan has intervened.

Russia applied to join the WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT, in June 1993 but remains the biggest economy outside the trade body and has previously accused the US of holding up its bid.

The US trade deficit was smaller than expected in July, figures have shown, as exports reached their highest level in almost two years.

China's deputy trade envoy, Chong Quan, rejected complaints that Beijing intentionally boosts its trade surplus by promoting exports while holding down imports. Speaking at a trade forum, Chong repeated promises to boost imports of resources and high-tech equipment and to ease costs for importers but announced no new initiatives.

Many high-technology companies have run afoul of the US' Export Control System, which regulates the overseas sales of items that can be put to use for military or intelligence-gathering purposes.

But analysts called the measures too timid in the face of the problems plaguing Japan's export-oriented economy.

Now it's official. Taiwan's legislature on late Tuesday night approved the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, the landmark trade deal between China and Taiwan.

The trade surplus for July 2010 grew to US$28.7 billion, well ahead of the US$20bn recorded in June and significantly more than analysts' forecasts. The data reflected a continued strong increase in exports, but the pace of growth in imports slowed sharply.

The greenback fell as much as 0.83% against the Japanese yen to 84.73 yen on August 11, before paring back some of those losses to trade around 85.37 yen.

There have been a number of positive developments regarding wage growth and government stimulus that will help move China forward towards a more consumption-oriented economy. But keep in mind that China is a save-first economy, so 20-25% wage inflation doesn't instantly equal 20-25% more consumer spending.

China has come under increasing international pressure to allow the yuan to appreciate. The US in particular has argued that the weak yuan gives Chinese exporters an unfair competitive advantage.

But the opposition certainly has reason to be suspicious. While Taiwanese negotiators did not get everything they asked for - PVC and polyethylene, important Taiwanese exports, were left out after months of wrangling.

Exporters have eyed Europe cautiously, with the safe-haven yen soaring in recent months on European debt worries, which if sustained will dent exporters' repatriated profits and make their goods more expensive overseas.

But analysts said China would still limit the appreciation so as not to damage its export-led economy.

Chinese authorities announced plans on June 19 to make the exchange rate more flexible, while ruling out a large, one-off move in the exchange rate.

The euro kept falling against the dollar on June 7, after plummeting below US$1.20 and posting fresh four-year lows late last week.

Questions have been raised about whether exporters will have to transform their modus operandi, which for years was predicated on a seemingly endless supply of cheap labour.

North Korea's ban on all ties could also bar South Korean aircraft from North Korean airspace, adding fuel cost and time to many international flights. Tensions on the peninsula are hitting the currency and stock markets of Asia's fourth-biggest economy.

South Korea's won fell the most in more than a year and the nation's stocks slumped following a report by a defector group that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered the military to prepare for conflict.

The eurozone managed only modest economic growth in the first quarter of 2010, with Germany's performance, held back by the bitter winter, failing to kick-start a broader recovery in the 16-country region.

Chinese authorities may announce a currency policy change before the second US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in May.

Anhui Jianghuai Automobile and Changan Automobile aim to poach the talent nurtured by Japan's top automakers.

Monthly Japanese shipments held steady in March 2010 in a sign that global demand, particularly from Asia, is still expanding, lending support to the country's export-dependent economy.