Society

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron held talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday afternoon on the first day of a major trade mission aimed at deepening commercial ties.

Mr. Cameron and Mr. Wen sat down for talks in Beijing's Great Hall of the People following a series of ministerial talks earlier this week covering economic, energy and educational issues.

After a brief welcoming ceremony, Mr. Wen thanked Mr. Cameron for prioritizing U.K.-China relations in his first months of office and pledged to push "forward the friendship and cooperation between our two countries." Mr. Cameron said he was glad to be "back in China and to be back with such a big delegation of ministers and business people."

China’s economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the third quarter, according to the estimates of analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal, a finding that runs counter to official statistics and could help explain the central bank’s recent move to raise interest rates.

The poll, the latest in a quarterly series, asks economists for their estimates of China’s growth in the same seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter terms used by other major economies. China officially reports changes in gross domestic product only relative to the same period a year earlier, which can make it harder to discern turning points in the economy.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported last month that the country’s gross domestic product was 9.6% higher than a year earlier in the third quarter, slowing from the 10.3% expansion in the second quarter. The figure was in line with market expectations and consistent with the government’s public statements that it has been gradually cooling down the economy to avoid risks from the huge stimulus plan launched in late 2008.

Authorities in south China's Guangzhou, host city of the 2010 Asian Games, Saturday said it will cancel a newly-launched free public transportation service due to the enormous public response, which might pose a security threat to the Asian Games.

The government earlier this month launched the color-coding scheme for vehicles, effectively grounding half of the city's 2.1 million private cars and those entering the city each day during the Asian Games.

Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Friday that China will maintain its exports of rare earths in 2011, denying reports that China would significantly reduce its export quotas.

At a signing ceremony of cooperation agreements with France, Chen said China has shut down or suspended the operation of some rare earth mines, which failed to meet environmental protection regulations.

However, the measure aimed at preventing environmental damages due to over-exploitation and reckless mining has been politicized by some Western media, he said.