China's top brass recognizes the need to avoid unnecessary tension with its major commodity suppliers, says Qu Hong Bin, senior economist at HSBC Global Markets, as he discusses China's reliance on resources to feed its economy. He talks to CNBC's Martin Soong.

Thomas Kaegi, head of macroeconomic research, Asia Pacific at UBS Wealth Mgmt is quite surprised by how optimistic the BoK's new forecast for the economy is, as he still expects 2009 GDP to fall 4%. He tells CNBC's Amanda Drury, Adam Bakhtiar & Martin Soong more.

China's claims that Rio staff have stolen state secrets are not unfounded, remarked Jonathan Barratt, MD at Commodity Broking Services. He tells Professor David Kelly of the University of Technology Sydney & CNBC's Karen Tso more.

Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey sheds more light on the proposed joint venture deal with America's Delta Air Lines on routes in the Pacific region, and tells CNBC's Oriel Morrison whether a full merger is in the works.

As the Bank of Korea holds rates steady at a record low of 2%, Daniel Soh, regional economist at Forecast, shares his thoughts on the decision amid nascent recovery in the economy, with CNBC's Amanda Drury & Adam Bakhtiar.

As exit polls point to a resounding win for Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Karim Raslan, columnist of Karim Raslan Associates tells CNBC's Martin Soong & Sri Jegarajah the challenges he will face.