ROK finance minister cautious on economic recovery

SEOUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean finance minister said Monday it is too early to be optimistic about economic recovery, citing a sluggish labor market and weak corporate investment.

Although the country has recently showed "glimmers of hope," such as record-high current account surplus in March and stabilizing stock and currency markets, it is too early to become optimistic about the outlook for the South Korean economy, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun told a conference in Seoul.

The minister made the remarks as optimistic views are raised over the nation's economy, with the current account hitting a record high of 6.6 billion U.S. dollars in March.

Yoon pointed to high unemployment, idling factories and sluggish corporate investment as factors that dragged the economy down.

"The government will continue its efforts to create 'business friendly environment' for local and foreign companies, including removing regulations that hinder their business, in order to promote corporate activities and revive the sluggish economy," the minister said.

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China to build its biggest high-speed train factory

CHANGCHUN, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Construction of China's
biggest manufacturing base for high-speed trains is to be completed in the
northeastern Jilin Province in June next year, local sources confirmed
Wednesday.

It will also become China's biggest research and
development center, according to Han Fengwu, deputy general manager of the
Changchun Railway Vehicle Co., Ltd (CRC).

The base, which cost 2.5 billion yuan (about 0.36
billion U.S. dollars), is capable of producing 500 cars for ordinary passenger
trains, 800 cars for high-speed trains which run at a speed above 350 kilometers
per hour and 800 cars for inter-city express trains above 120 kilometers per
hour.

Construction on the base began last May.

CRC, a share-holding enterprise registered in March
2002, produced China's first underground train, magnetic levitation train and
high-speed train.

The Ministry of Railways launched a major overhaul of
the rail system on April 1, the seventh since 1997, featuring faster trips and
more seats.

S Korea's current account surplus rises to record high in March

SEOUL, April 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's current account surplus marked a record high in March thanks to a great leap in the goods balance surplus, the central bank said Wednesday.

The current account surplus reached 6.65 billion U.S. dollars last month, sharply up from 3.56 billion U.S. dollars in February, according to a report by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The March figure stands at the largest level since January 1980 when the BOK started compiling related data.

The record surplus can be attributed to a jump in the goods balance surplus, according to the BOK.

The goods balance marked a surplus of 6.98 billion U.S. dollars in March, more than doubling from the previous month when the figure hit 3.11 billion U.S. dollars.

The increase in the goods balance came as an on-year fall of 35.8 percent in imports exceeded that of 17.8 percent in exports, the BOK said.

Meanwhile, the service account and the income account stood in the negative territory in March, with a deficit of 645.7 million U.S. dollars and 215.7 million U.S. dollars, respectively.

The capital account posted a net outflow of 2.18 billion U.S. dollars last month, close to a 2.98 billion-U.S. dollar outflow a month earlier.

As the trade surplus is expected to keep moving upward, reaching around 4 to 5 billion U.S. dollars for April, the country's current account surplus may hit about 3 billion U.S. dollars for the month, a high official at the BOK told a press conference.

Chinese equities gain 0.35% to 8-month high

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities ended 0.35 percent higher Wednesday, continuing the upward trend for the fifth consecutive trading day, and hitting a new high since early August last year.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished the day at 2,536.06 points, up 8.88 points or 0.35 percent, from the previous close.

The Shenzhen Component Index went up 0.48 percent, or 46.4 points, to close at 9,724.58.

Gains outnumbered losses by 524 to 320 in Shanghai and 468 to 260 in Shenzhen.

Combined turnover expanded to 268.93 billion yuan (39.35 billion U.S. dollars) Wednesday from 252.32 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

The Shanghai Composite Index opened 0.5 percent lower at 2514.59 points, echoing the overnight Wall Street losses. Dealers said investors were confident as some economic recovery signs had emerged.

The Shanghai Composite Index has gained more than 37 percent from the beginning of this year.

Coal shares rose across the board on expectation of coal price rise. Datong Coal Industry Co., Ltd. surged 6.19 percent to 26.94 yuan, while Yanzhou Coal Mining Co., Ltd. jumped 4.8 percent to 16.59 yuan.

China Southern Airlines, the country's leading carrier, lost 1.75 percent to 6.17 yuan as it announced Wednesday that it lost 4.83 billion yuan in 2008 on high fuel costs, sluggish traffic business and several natural disasters. The figure was worse than market expectation, dealers said.

China Life lost 1.93 percent to 24.9 yuan after the country's leading insurer reported Tuesday night that its first-quarter
premium income reached 104 billion yuan, only 1.8 billion higher from a
year ago.