While e-commerce companies have plunged into ever-increasing competition in the Chinese domestic market, some are trying their luck outside China to find other ways to fuel growth.

China's manufacturing activity surged to a 19-month high in December, British bank HSBC said Monday, adding to signs of recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

Chinese stocks in 2012 fell to levels unseen since the global financial crisis, as investors ignored a rebound in the world's second largest economy and focused on fundamental problems with the market.

Mainland Chinese shares closed at their highest levels in six months on Monday, as strength in insurers and brokerages helped benchmark indexes post their first annual gain in three years.

Entrepreneurs in China's southwest are dreaming of turning the city of Chengdu into the world's next Silicon Valley as the government encourages more investment outside the booming coastal regions.

A privately owned Chinese company is finalizing the acquisition of an Australian mining firm that controls a major iron ore mine in west Africa, a move that would give China a stronger role in setting global iron ore prices, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

Mainland Chinese shares hit six-month closing highs on Friday, while Hong Kong crept to its highest close in almost 18 months as investors rotated into Chinese non-financial counters after Beijing raised hopes of quicker sector reforms.

China has launched commercial and public services across the Asia-Pacific region on its domestic satellite navigation network built to rival the U.S. global positioning system.

Sales of imported vehicles in China showed a year-on-year drop for a second month in a row in November, placing even more pressure on dealers to decrease their inventories.

China's economic boom has seen its coral reefs shrink by at least 80 percent over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study found Thursday, with researchers describing “grim” levels of damage and loss.