China reported stronger trade in March in a possible positive sign for its recovery but analysts said the data might be inflated and give a distorted picture of the economy's health.

China and Australia on Wednesday started direct trading of their currencies, dealers said, in a move seen as a boost to business ties and international use of the Chinese yuan.

China's inflation declined in March, easing pressure on consumers but fueling questions about the strength of recovery in the world's second-biggest economy.

Chinese tourists have overtaken Germans as the world's biggest-spending travelers after a decade of robust growth in the number of Chinese holidaying abroad, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said on Thursday.

Cross-strait financial exchanges are poised to benefit following the resolution of numerous agreements following the third round of talks between financial regulators on both sides of the strait.

A quarter of firms that are members of a leading U.S. business lobby in China have been victims of data theft, a report by the group said on Friday, amid growing vitriol between Beijing and Washington over the threat of cyber attacks.

Only 10 Chinese mainland companies were listed in the first quarter of 2013 with total financing of 6.3 billion yuan (US$1.01 billion), a drop of 84 percent year-on-year, according to a report by ChinaVenture Group on Thursday.

A knife-wielding attacker killed two relatives and then slashed 11 people, including six children, outside a school in China's commercial hub of Shanghai, state media said Thursday.

China will start a more flexible system for pricing domestic fuel from Wednesday, the first major revamp for four years, to help avoid shortages and tame consumption.

China may see an increase in property transactions involving international investors in 2013, fueled by the economic recovery and the rosy outlook of China's commercial properties, industry experts said.