BEIJING: Chinese authorities kept concerns about the safety of a Shanghai dairy

Woodside Petroleum and PetroChina said yesterday that an outline agreement for the Australian energy group to supply liquefied natural gas estimated to be worth about A$45bn (US$41bn) had expired without a firm accord being reached.

BEIJING: China

Jerome Cartillier

The rapid boom in wind farming in China places it behind only the United States, Germany and Spain
IN THE MOUNTAINS above the southwestern Chinese town of Dali, dozens of new wind turbines dot the landscape -a symbol of the country's sky-high ambitions for clean, green energy.

India is expected to bring up the issue of Chinese investments in power projects in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and that of building of a dam on the Brahmaputra when External Affairs Minister S M Krishna meets Chinese Foreign minister Yang Jiechi in Bangalore on the sidelines of the India-Russia-China trilateral meet on Tuesday.

China may have to put the brakes on the construction of nuclear power plants to ensure the plants are safe, the country's top energy planning official told reporters on Sunday.

Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, warned of signs of "improper" and "too fast" development of nuclear power in some regions.

Driven by surge in imports of coking coal by China, growth in Japanese steel output and signs of recovery in the Indian economy, spot prices of the raw material are expected to firm up in the international market.

The United States is still working toward an agreement with G20 partners to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels, a top White House adviser said ahead of this week's G20 summit.

Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser and top G20 aide to President Barack Obama, said the United States was hoping to reach an agreement about the issue at the Pittsburgh summit on Thursday and Friday.

Some 100 heads of state gathered at the United Nations on Tuesday for an unprecedented daylong conference on combating climate change, with key leaders like presidents Hu Jintao of China and Barack Obama acknowledging that agreement is an important goal, but also stressing their own needs.