Panicky investors dumped shares on the Tokyo market Thursday, sending the main index plunging more than seven percent on weak Chinese data after months of sharp climbs.

Amendments proposed to the Consumer Protection Law would eliminate the seven-day grace period that allowed consumers to return electronic products or fresh goods.

Amid discouraging macroeconomics conditions, Taiwan's industry and manufacturing production indexes in April fell by 0.88 percent and 1.18 percent year-on-year, marking the third consecutive month of decline, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The fifth annual Taiwan-U.S. Commercial Forum will take place in Kaohsiung Friday, focusing on the development of bilateral trade relations and the prospects for further economic cooperation, the organizers said recently.

Japan on Wednesday posted its worst April trade deficit as a weak yen ramped up import costs and helped extend the run of monthly shortfalls to the longest in more than three decades.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart had AU$7 billion (US$6.8 billion) wiped off her fortune in the past year but remains Australia's wealthiest person, an annual rich list showed Wednesday.

Former World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Monday that Japan's economic drive needed accompanying structural reforms, voicing fear that recent growth could be just a “sugar high.”

U.S. investment banking giant Goldman Sachs said Monday it will start investing in Japanese renewable energy projects, with a reported US$2.9 billion outlay over the next five years.

Thailand's economy shrank 2.2 percent in the three months to March from the previous quarter — the first contraction in more than a year — as manufacturing output fell, official data showed Monday.

The world hydroelectric industry's decision to meet in a Malaysian state where dams have uprooted rainforests and native peoples is drawing bitter fire from environmental and tribal groups.