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BEIJING, March 17- The Beijing municipal government said on Friday it has raised the downpayment requirement for second home purchases in the city to at least 60 percent. The new rule goes into effect from March 18, according to a notice on the website of the Beijing housing commission. Beijing last raised the mininum second-home down payment to 50 percent on Sept....

HONG KONG, March 17- Apple will set up two new research and development centres in Shanghai and Suzhou in China, it said in a statement in its Chinese website on Friday. Apple said it is adding the two new locations after the two previously announced centres in Beijing and Shenzhen. It has pledged to invest more than 3.5 billion yuan in research and development in...

HONG KONG, March 17- Apple will set up two new research and development centers in Shanghai and Suzhou in China, it said in a statement in its Chinese website on Friday. Apple said it is adding the two new locations after the two previously announced centers in Beijing and Shenzhen. It has pledged to invest more than 3.5 billion yuan in research and development in...

*Advertisers in China shun Korean entertainers. SHANGHAI/ SEOUL, March 17- Cai Yufang, 21, is a big fan of Korean television dramas like "Shopping King Louie", a show about a profligate chaebol heir who loses his memory and learns the value of love and labour from a sweet, simple country girl. The mainland chill on Korean content that follows Seoul's decision to deploy a...

*Plans to sell land to China's Genzon for $260 mln- source. LeEco, one of China's most ambitious companies that grew from a Netflix-like video website to a business empire spanning consumer electronics to cars within 13 years, is struggling to support its goals that include beating Elon Musk's Tesla Motors in premium electric vehicle making.

*Plans to cut some middle& senior management roles in Hong Kong. SYDNEY/ SHANGHAI, March 17- Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd plans to cut the cost of middle and senior management roles at its Hong Kong head office by 30 percent, according to an internal memo a day after the airline reported its first annual loss since 2008.. The Hong Kong flag carrier earlier this week...

BEIJING— Saudi Arabia's King Salman met with China's premier on Friday, a day after the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation valued at $65 billion. Saudi Arabia is China's biggest supplier of crude oil and the kingdom's state-owned oil producer, Aramco, is a partner with state-owned China Petroleum& Chemical Corp. The two...

SHANGHAI, March 17- China's yuan weakened against the dollar on Friday, due to corporate demand for the greenback, but the Chinese currency was on track for its best week in more than two months. The People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.8873 per dollar prior to market open, weaker than the previous fix of 6.8862. Traders said the domestic forex market...

*As others withdraw, China could become nuclear power leader. BEIJING, March 17- China needs to speed up building planned nuclear reactors and make quick new approvals over the next few years to meet a target for 2020 and keep projects rolling beyond that, an ex-chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation said. China currently operates 35 nuclear reactors,...

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in South Korea on Friday for the second leg of an Asian tour focussed on finding a "new approach" for North Korea after what he described as two decades of failed efforts to denuclearize the reclusive state. In South Korea, he will visit the heavily fortified border with North Korea, the Demilitarized Zone, before meeting...

*Dutch center-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte fought off the challenge of anti-Islam and anti-EU rival Geert Wilders to score an election victory that was hailed across Europe on Thursday by governments facing a rising wave of nationalism. *President Donald Trump's first budget outline, calling for a security-heavy realignment of federal spending, drew...