The Associated Press reports: "The European Union's ambassador to China said Monday the bloc wants a more level playing field in its trade relations with China, insisting that Beijing was not doing enough to address overcapacity in its steel industry that has hit European manufacturers hard....The EU and the United States complain that China is trying to clear away the backlog of steel by exporting at unfairly low prices....Schweisgut also said that while European companies were willing in decades past to put up with restrictions on doing business in China, especially when they had other advantages like cheap labor, now the EU wants a relationship that is much more based on 'fair exchange.'"
The Wall Street Journal reports: "One week after launching an investigation into the advertising practices of Internet giant Baidu Inc., authorities ordered the company to revamp the way it handles advertising results in online searches....On Monday evening, China's Cyberspace Administration said Baidu must change its system by the end of the month, by attaching 'eye-catching markers,' as well as risk warnings, to all paid results. It also said ads must comprise only 30% of results displayed on a page. In a written statement, Baidu said it accepted the results of the investigation and would implement the recommendations soon."
The Economist reports: "In recent years China has become a world beater on several fronts. It is now a leading economy, does the most trade in luxury goods and is the biggest e-commerce market. China also supplies the largest number of (and total spending by) outbound tourists. Now, according to data from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) China has overtaken the United States to become the world's largest business-travel market, though just about....China's growth in business-travel spending should come as little surprise. China's state-supported domestic giants have international ambitions, prompting a slew of outbound acquisitions and IPOs led by the likes of Alibaba, the world's biggest e-commerce firm."