China holds biggest ever military drill in SCS amid Xi's presence

The Chinese military on Thursday held its largest ever maritime drill in the disputed South China Sea during which it displayed for the first time the country's aircraft carrier strike group and the most advanced weaponry of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

President Xi Jinping, also the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), reviewed the drill and addressed the sailors, PLA Daily reported.

CMC is the overall high command of the 2-million strong Chinese military.

Forty-eight warships, 76 aircraft and more than 10,000 sailors and soldiers took part in the drill which was hailed as "the biggest maritime military parade since the foundation of the new China and a heroic display of the PLA Navy in the new era," the PLA Daily reported today.

The drill was held amid frequent forays made by US naval and aircraft into the South China Sea to assert the freedom of navigation especially around the artificial islands built by China, where it has also established garrisons.

China's Jan-Feb industrial growth picks up, but pace slower than 2017

Profits at China's industrial firms picked up pace in the first two months of the year from December but still lagged growth for the whole of 2017, backing expectations the world's second-biggest economy is set to cool as Beijing clamps down on debt risks.

Slowing earnings grsowth, following a six-year high last year, could deter investment and put further pressure on China's stock markets which have taken a knock in recent sessions on growing fears of a trade war with the United States.

Weaker earnings could also complicate Beijing's campaign to reduce a mountain of debt amassed by its state-owned giants, which dominate its heavy industries.

Industrial profits rose 16.1 percent year-on-year to 968.9 billion yuan ($154.57 billion) in the first two months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

That compared with a 10.8 percent increase in December, though it lagged the 21.0 percent jump for 2017 as a whole, the fastest pace since 2011, as a construction boom boosted prices of building materials from steel bars to copper pipes and cement.

India's oil consumption to be fastest in world by 2035: Survey

Latest News - Having pipped Japan to become world's third largest oil consumer, India's oil consumption growth will be the fastest among all major economies by 2035, BP Statistical Review of World Energy said.

India, Asia's second-biggest energy consumer since 2008, had in 2015 overtaken Japan as the world's third-largest oil consuming country behind US and China.

"We project that India's energy consumption grows the fastest among all major economies by 2035. As a result, the country remains import dependent despite increases in production," it said.

While energy consumption will grow by 4.2 per cent per annum — faster than all major economies in the world — India's consumption growth of (Read More)