China has enough policy tools to keep the economy stable despite “deep rooted” structural problems and downward pressure, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, according to a report by Reuters. Speaking at an annual forum in Boao on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, Li said high economic growth rates are not sustainable, so the government will pay more attention to the quality and efficiency of economic growth.The comments echoed previous statements by policymakers who are grappling with the

The dollar strengthened against its major peers on Thursday as fresh signs emerged that the US Federal Reserve could raise key interest rates as early as next month.Recent statements by several Fed members have boosted expectations the bank may start to take a more bullish approach than signalled last week, when it held interest rates steady."You get another strong jobs report, it looks like labour markets are improving, you could probably make a case for moving in April," said James Bullard, pr

The Thai prime minister has expressed hope that South Korean investors will participate in massive infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy as he vowed to make efforts to address their concerns, South Korea's presidential office said Tuesday.Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha made the comments in a message conveyed to South Korean President Park Geun-hye through Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, Cheong Wa Dae said.Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (Bloom

South Korea's terms of trade improved from a year earlier in February as import prices dropped at a faster clip than export prices, central bank data showed Wednesday.The terms of trade index for products came to 103.54 last month, up 3.4 percent from the same month last year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The February reading also marks a 2.4 percent increase from a revised 101.12 in the previous month.The index measures the amount of imports a country can buy for e

South Korea said Monday it will strengthen cooperation with China for the development and marketing of virtual reality gear and related products, to take a lead in the burgeoning but promising sector.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning plans to organize a "South Korea-China VR business day" event in Shanghai on Tuesday, setting the stage for more than 60 firms from neighboring countries to explore partnerships in the rapidly growing industry.They include South Korea's SKONEC Enterta

Chinese policy makers underscored their concern about a surge in leverage in the world’s second-largest economy, days after the conclusion of a gathering of the national legislature that showed their top priority is securing at least 6.5 percent annual growth for years to come.The comments from People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli suggest China’s leaders are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened under their predecessors, when unbridled stimulus created

South Korea ranked as the world's sixth most financially advanced country among 183 countries, a survey showed on Thursday.Korea's financial institutions earned the sixth-highest score of 0.854 in financial advancement, following Switzerland with 0.951, Australia with 0.890, Great Britain at 0.882, the United States' 0.877 and Spain's 0.860, according to the survey conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The results were based on an analysis of three factors in the subjected countries

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Federal Reserve is keeping a key interest rate unchanged in light of global pressures that risk slowing the U.S. economy.  As a result, Fed officials expect to raise rates more gradually this year than they had envisioned in December. The officials now foresee two, rather than four, modest increases in their benchmark short-term rate during 2016. The Fed said Wednesday that the economy has continued to grow moderately but that the global economy and financial markets still

South Korean banks and brokerages have launched robo-advisory services to deliver consistent returns to investors at slimmer fees, the companies said Thursday, allowing artificial intelligence to encroach upon asset management handled by human beings. In the past few years, robo advisers have emerged globally as an alternative to human financial advisers who are active but often make costly investment mistakes, according to industry people.Korea has recently joined the growing trend to take adva

South Korea's home sales plunged 24.9 percent last month from a year earlier as the local property market has shown some signs of a slowdown, government data showed Sunday.The number of home transactions reached 59,265 in February compared with a record 78,864 tallied a year ago, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.It also marked a 5 percent drop from the previous month's 62,365 and a 12.2 percent fall from a five-year average of 68,000.February's sha

The brand value of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group rose to $83.1 billion in 2015, but its ranking dropped one notch from a year earlier, industry data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by British industry tracker Brand Finance, Samsung stood as the world's No. 3 firm in terms of brand worth. It marked a 1.8 percent rise from a year earlier.U.S.-based Apple Inc., Samsung's key rival in the tech industry, took the throne with $146 billion, up 14 percent from a year earlier.

After losing his third straight Go match against Google's artificial intelligence program AlphaGo Saturday, South Korean veteran Lee Se-dol said he simply didn't have what it took to win."I've never felt this kind of pressure," Lee told reporters after falling to AlphaGo by resignation in 176 moves. "I wasn't good enough to handle that kind of burden. I'd like to apologize (to people). I think they must have had high expectations, but I came out lethargic."By taking the first three matches, Alph

Samsung Electronics Co. warned of rising competition across businesses from smartphones to memory chips, again sounding a dour note for the global technology industry in 2016.The world’s largest smartphone vendor faces another difficult year after a 2015 plagued by economic turbulence and volatile exchange rates, Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh-Hyun said in a letter to shareholders ahead of their annual meeting on Friday.Investors across a raft of Samsung Group companies will vote Friday on prop

A senior member of the minor opposition People's Party resigned from his post Friday, deepening an internal feud over a possible merger with the main opposition party ahead of the April 13 general elections.Rep. Kim Han-gil, the head of the party's election planning committee, said he will step down after he failed to persuade the party's co-chairman Ahn Cheol-soo to join forces with the Minjoo Party of Korea to win more seats in the upcoming polls.  "I held a meeting with two chairmen yesterday

Foreign currency deposits at banks continued to shrink in February due to a large cut in deposits held by local firms, central bank data showed Thursday.Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $53.47 billion at the end of last month, down $2.13 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The February reading marks the lowest level since $51.1 billion tallied in March 2014, as well as the fourth consecutive month of on-month de

Samsung Electronics Co. showcased its latest flagship smartphones in South Korea on Thursday, with price tags hovering below their predecessors in an apparent bid to better compete with rivals and improve its ailing smartphone business.The world's top smartphone maker said the local price of the 32 gigabyte (GB) Galaxy S7 will be 836,000 won ($690), compared with the initial price of 858,000 won for the 32GB Galaxy S6.That of the 32GB Galaxy S7 Edge stands at 924,000 won, also down 5.6 percent f

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday that it has slapped a combined 815 million won ($672,720) in fines on 172 affiliates of large business groups for regulatory filing violations last year.Sixteen affiliates of Lotte Group were fined a combined 135.5 million won and 12 companies under the arm of SK Group were booked92.6 million won in penalties for not properly reporting to authorities about their intra-affiliate business deals, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).The deals i

Four state-run companies will carry out 21 trillion won (US$17.3 billion) worth of projects in 2016 as part of the government-led stimulus to boost the local property market and the entire economy, the ministry said Thursday.The public firms will order 1,689 new projects, such as building new apartment complexes and highways, this year, with the total value reaching 20.9 trillion won, up 7 percent from 19.5 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transp

Ssangyong Motor Co., owned by India's auto giant Mahindra & Mahindra, launched the Tivoli Air on Tuesday, targeting the growing compact SUV market. The Tivoli Air is a long-body version of its popular Tivoli crossover SUV, which was launched early last year. The Tivoli led its domestic and overseas sales throughout last year, raising expectations for the larger-sized family model. "The Tivoli Air is armed with the unique dynamic style, which evolved from the luxurious and stylish brand of the Ti

South Koreans in their 20s and early 30s lag far behind their American counterparts in terms of home ownership, a think tank report said Tuesday, indicating unemployment and other economic difficulties faced by young Korean people.  According to a report released by KB Research, 21 percent of Koreans aged 20-35 had their own homes, including apartments, in 2010, whereas 36 percent of their same-age Americans owned their homes in 2014. The KB report is based on the latest data from the two countr