Before melamine-laced milk killed and sickened Chinese babies and led to recalls around the world, the routine spiking of milk with illicit substances was an open secret in China's dairy regions, according to the accounts of farmers and others with knowledge of the industry.

The Australian government Monday unveiled a multibillion-dollar plan for the country's auto industry in an effort to boost its international competitiveness and help auto makers adjust to declining global demand for fuel-guzzling vehicles.

A group of Western oil companies signed an agreement with the Kazakhstan government resolving a long-running dispute over one of the world's largest oil fields.

For months, the Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea has been the focus of a standoff between the Kazakh authorities and a group of companies led by ENI SpA of Italy.

Beijing recently announced that a massive testing campaign has turned up no contamination in liquid milk made in China. That's a relief after milk powder tainted with an industrial chemical claimed the lives of at least four infants and sickened 54,000 in recent months. Just don't mistake this for a sign that Beijing has finally solved its food safety problem.

SHANGHAI

SHENZHEN, China-A Chinese company best-known for making cellphone batteries says it is on the verge of launching the country's first mass-produced electric car and may also have lined up its first large purchase order.

PASSENGER-VEHICLE SALES in China fell for a second month in a row in September, dropping 1.4% from a year earlier to 552,800 vehicles and heightening worries about a demand slowdown.

Sales of passenger vehicles in the January-September period rose 11.4% to 5.1 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.

Auto makers boost production to meet demand abroad

INDIA is becoming a small-car manufacturing hub for some of the world's biggest auto makers. Annual passenger-car exports from India have jumped fivefold in the past five years. Industry analysts predict exports over the next three years will surge nearly 300% to more than half-a-million vehicles a year.

Two strong earthquakes' hit Asia, killing more than 100 people and causing widespread damage.

CHINA IS POSTING inspectors to monitor dairy companies and imposing new rules to improve accountability among milk suppliers, as it moves to restore consumer confidence after tainted baby formula sickened tens of thousands of children.