Bloomberg Tour agencies in China’s Shandong province said they received notification from the government of a ban on group trips to South Korea, in a further signal that Beijing isn’t adopting a fast approach to restoring normal ties with Seoul. A Shandong branch of China International Travel Service said it received notice that no tour groups to South Korea will …

Bloomberg Asia’s technology rally this year appears to be sputtering as analysts at two firms cut their forecasts yesterday for Samsung Electronics Co.’s fourth-quarter operating profit, fuelling growing skepticism the industry’s gains are running out of gas. HI Investment & Securities Co. cut its fourth-quarter operating profit estimate for Samsung by 4.8 percent to 15.7 trillion won ($14.5 billion) from …

Bloomberg Singapore is embracing technology and focussing more on personal health, as an expected doubling of seniors over the next two decades forces the nation to confront politically sensitive decisions on financing and immigration. While Singapore’s aging population is something to celebrate in reflecting longevity, it’s also forcing the city to become more nimble in how it approaches the challenges, …

Bloomberg Major League Baseball (MLB) has signed a 10-year partnership with state-owned Beijing Enterprises Real-Estate Group Ltd. to help grow the sport in China. The partnership, announced this morning, will focus on expanding the number of baseball facilities in the world’s most populous country. The aim is to build at least 20 development centres where Chinese students ages 7 to …

Bloomberg China’s imports of liquefied natural gas in November surged 53 percent to a record as the nation scrambles to meet fuel shortages amid peak winter demand and government’s drive to cut coal use. LNG imports rose 53 percent from the same month last year to 4.06 million metric tons, according to data posted on the website of the General …

Bloomberg Oil demand may jump in the new year as US refiners plan to take fewer units offline than last winter, freeing them up to churn out more fuel. Crude unit shutdowns in the first two months of the year are expected to be 35 percent below winter 2017, according to data from Energy Aspects Ltd. March outages are seen …

RIYADH / REUTERS Saudi Arabia aims to start talks with Washington within weeks on an agreement to allow US firms to participate in its nascent civilian nuclear energy programme, with the first tender expected in 2018, the kingdom’s energy minister said. Saudi Arabia is interested in reaching a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Washington, and Riyadh has invited US firms …

Bloomberg Saudi Aramco is looking for natural gas assets from Russia to East Africa and the US as the kingdom’s state-owned energy giant hunts for ways to meet soaring domestic demand. The comments by Khalid Al-Falih, who’s both Aramco chairman and Saudi energy minister, are a tacit admission Aramco has failed to find enough domestic gas reserves despite years of …

Bloomberg Pemex’s crude menu has just gotten simpler. If it’s the traditional, heavier Maya you’re after, step right up, but traders with a palate for lighter, sweeter crudes will have to look elsewhere. Isthmus exports fell almost 16 percent in November from the previous month while Pemex stopped sending Olmeca, Mexico’s light- est crude, for a third consecutive month, according …

Bloomberg North Korea rejected tighter United Nations sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear expansion, describing the move as an “act of war” and vowing to avenge US sympathisers who approved it. The US “must abandon its hostile policy” towards North Korea, “learn to co-exist” and “wake up from its pipe-dream of our country giving up nuclear weapons,” the Korean Central …