Beijing / Bloomberg China is stepping up support for the economy by ramping up spending and considering new measures to boost bank lending. The nation’s chief planning agency is making more money available to local governments to fund new infrastructure projects, according to people familiar with the matter. Meantime, China’s cabinet has discussed lowering the minimum ratio of provisions that ...

New Delhi / AFP A little-known Indian company has launched a smartphone believed to be the cheapest in the world, targeting a market already dominated by low-cost handsets. Set to be priced at under 500 rupees ($7.30), domestic handset maker Ringing Bells’ Freedom 251 smartphone is about one percent of the price of the latest Apple iPhone. Ringing Bells was ...

Yangon / AFP Japanese auto giant Nissan will start assembling cars in Myanmar for the first time this year, the company said on Wednesday, as it expands its presence in one of Asia’s final economic frontiers. Foreign companies have piled into the Southeast Asian nation since reforms began in 2011, eager to tap into a 51.5 million-strong pool of potential ...