The US has put China’s top search engine Baidu on a list of “notorious markets” for counterfeit and pirated goods. The US Trade Representative (USTR) accused Baidu of steering consumers to third-party websites where pirated material is hosted. Read the full story

Japan’s economy shrank slightly in the final quarter of 2010 but analysts expect a recovery this year as stronger exports to China and other parts of fast-growing Asia offset persistently weak domestic demand. Read the full story

The United States has asked the Chinese government to do more to stop Chinese companies helping Iran with its nuclear programme and missile technology. Read the full story

As the US and its European allies are trying to increase unilateral sanctions against Iran, other major states show bold resistance to the punitive measures. Read the full story

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang told the visiting Iranian oil minister on Friday that Beijing would maintain cooperation with Tehran on existing projects, after the United States called on Beijing to observe sanctions.

“Iran is an important trade partner of China’s in western Asia and North Africa and one of the country’s main oil suppliers. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has achieved fruitful results,” state television paraphrased Li as telling minister Massoud Mirkazemi.

“China is willing to work hard with Iran, continue to push mutual political trust, and maintain communication, dialogue and coordination on important international issues, to maintain regional and global peace, stability and prosperity,” Li added.

“The key point is to solidly push forward existing cooperative projects, to ensure they are put into effect smoothly, to deepen bilateral pragmatic cooperation and promote the continued development of bilateral ties,” he added.

State television showed pictures of the meeting, in the Communist Party’s headquarters in central Beijing, on its main evening news.

Mirkazemi said he hoped that “both sides would create conditions to push forward existing projects,” the brief report added, without elaborating.

The minister is in Beijing for talks with Chinese energy executives. He has not made any public comments.

China has already pushed back at U.S. pressure on its business and oil trade with Iran in comments published earlier this week, saying Chinese trade dealings with Iran should not be criticized.

The government was responding to comments by Robert Einhorn, special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the U.S. State Department, who said on Monday that China should observe sanctions against Iran aimed at forcing it to curtail its nuclear ambitions.

Western governments have pressed China to loosen its energy and economic ties with Iran, which they see as shielding Iran from international pressure.

Iran is a major supplier of crude oil to China, the world’s second-biggest consumer of oil after the United States.

The United States has urged China to tap other suppliers, but China has condemned unilateral U.S. and E.U. sanctions aimed at Iran’s energy sector.

China has backed U.N. Security Council resolutions pressing Iran to abandon disputed nuclear activities, which Western governments say are aimed at giving Iran the means to make nuclear weapons. Iran disputes that.

In the first half of 2010, Iran held its place as China’s third biggest supplier of crude with shipments of 9 million tonnes of oil, putting it behind Saudi Arabia and Angola, according to Chinese customs data.

China is reportedly developing a game-changing new naval missile that can pave the way for ending the US dominance at sea, experts say. Read the full story

Washington is worried that Iran continues to attract investment from China despite a new round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran, a US official says. Read the full story

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of turning against Teheran and joining US efforts to spread lies about its nuclear program on Friday, in the latest sign that Iran is drifting apart from a one-time key backer. Read the full story

China denounced the United States on Tuesday for imposing its own sanctions on Iran, saying Washington should not unilaterally take such steps outside of U.N. resolutions. Read the full story

Google has announced a “new approach” in China as it battles with Beijing over censorship. Until recently, the firm had been redirecting search inquiries in China to its unfiltered site in Hong Kong to get round censorship issues. Read the full story

Signs of deep rifts at the G8 and G20 summits in Toronto over how quickly governments should cut deficits added to financial market jitters today, with the Americans warning of the dangers of a double dip recession if all countries started to rein back spending at once. Read the full story

The Chinese have spotted another buying opportunity: Europe. After snapping up large tracts of Africa to extract oil and minerals, Chinese businesses are taking advantage of cash-strapped eurozone nations to gain a foothold. Read the full story

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard is now in the cross-hairs of U.N. penalties over Tehran’s nuclear program, and it’s an elusive target — a master at the sanctions-busting strategies long used by the Islamic Republic. Read the full story

North Korea on Tuesday threatened military action if the South continued to violate its waters off the west coast, further stoking tension on the peninsula after the sinking of a South Korean warship. Read the full story

Chinese tycoon Huang Guangyu has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of bribery, insider trading and illegal business practices. Read the full story

China welcomes a nuclear fuel declaration Iran issued after talks with Brazil and Turkey, signaling that it may oppose a US-led drive to impose sanctions on Tehran. Read the full story

Nigeria’s state-run oil firm NNPC and China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) have signed a $23bn (£16bn; 18bn euros) deal. Read the full story

A Falun Gong-linked group that promotes internet freedom says the US state department has offered it $1.5m, in a move condemned by Chinese officials. Read the full story