Bloomberg China has started an overhaul of its salt industry, easing a monopoly that has existed in some form for more than 2,000 years and predates the Great Wall. New regulations went into effect at the start of this year. Under a plan published by China’s State Council last year, government regulators will allow private companies to enter the ...

  Bloomberg The pace of German inflation more than doubled in December, driven by a surge in oil that is set to mask continued weakness in underlying price pressures in the months ahead. Consumer prices rose 1.7 percent from a year ago, recording the biggest jump on record, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said on Tuesday. Economists surveyed by ...

    Bloomberg UK manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in 2 and a 1/2 years in December, helped by the pound’s deprec- iation since the vote to leave the European Union. After dipping sharply in the wake of the Brexit referendum — dropping below the key 50 level in July — the IHS Markit Purchasing Managers Index has since ...