The New York Times reports: "China on Friday cut interest rates and freed its banks to lend more, the government's latest attempt to confront a persistent slowdown in economic growth. The move, announced Friday night, was China's sixth interest rate cut since November, as it has sought to combat slowing growth and tackle persistently weak inflation. Official data released on Monday showed China's growth slipped to 6.9 percent in the third quarter, the weakest quarterly expansion since 2009, in the depths of the financial crisis. The central bank, the People's Bank of China, said it would cut the one year lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.35 percent, effective Saturday. The benchmark deposit rate would be lowered by the same amount, to 1.5 percent."
The Associated Press reports: "Since 2013, China has accelerated the construction of new islands atop reefs and atolls in the South China Sea and is adding buildings and airstrips in apparent attempts to boost its sovereignty claims to the territory. Swift said under international law, building on an island that's only exposed at low tide but not at higher tide doesn't bolster a territorial claim to the place. He reiterated the U.S. doesn't support land reclamation efforts, regardless of their scale. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a news conference in Boston last week the U.S. will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits, including in the South China Sea."
The Wall Street Journal reports: "Tesla Motors Inc. plans to produce electric vehicles within two years in China, where the government is vigorously promoting reduced-emissions vehicles. The startup auto maker's chief executive, Elon Musk, said late Thursday that local production could cut sales prices of Tesla cars in China by a third, thanks to reduced shipping costs and avoidance of import duties... Mr. Musk is betting on China's huge demand for electric cars. By 2030, more than half the newly produced vehicles in the world will be battery-powered, and China will take the biggest share, he said, according to a transcript of his speech posted on Tesla's verified Chinese social-media account. China is the world's largest car market, with nearly 20 million cars sold last year."