China loan growth quickens

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's banks ratcheted up lending in the last month of 2011 on the back of stronger money supply, reinforcing perceptions that the central bank is gently easing policy to cushion the impact of the global economic slowdown.

Bank of China, Mizuho eye RBS bank assets: sources

(Reuters) - Bank of China (601988.SS) and Japan's Mizuho Financial 8411.T. are among the banks eyeing parts of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), sources told Reuters on Friday, as the process begins to trim the investment banking arm of the government owned UK bank.

Samsung gets government approval for China chip factory

Samsung Electronics has won government approval for its plans to set up a memory-chip factory in China.

IMF to release Japan bank stress tests in summer: report

(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will release as early as this summer the results of health checks on Japanese banks, including their ability to withstand the European debt crisis and weak economic growth, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

Singapore's economic growth slows as manufacturing dips

Singapore's economic growth slowed in the last quarter of 2011 as reduced demand and supply chain disruptions hurt manufacturing.

Two Koreas 'at a turning point' says South president

The Korean peninsula is at a "turning point" and there are opportunities for change, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a new year speech.

China’s Export Orders Show Threat to Growth From Europe: Economy

Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- A Chinese manufacturing gauge rose in December, suggesting that a slowdown in the world’s second- biggest economy may be stabilizing even as Europe’s debt crisis dims the outlook for exports.