VENTURE CAPITAL POST

China and India signed 26 business deals worth more than $22 billion in areas including renewable energy, ports, financing and industrial parks, an Indian embassy official said on Saturday.

Energy, transport and finance deals are likely to be on the agenda as Chinese President Xi Jinping meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a three-day visit to Russia, where he will attend World War Two commemorations.

China's leaders, caught off guard by a sharp economic slowdown and worried about the risk of job losses, are likely to resort to fiscal stimulus to revive growth after a run of monetary policy easings proved less effective, policy insiders said.

China's biggest lender by assets, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said on Wednesday it had signed an infrastructure pact worth $2 billion with the oil-rich west African nation of Equatorial Guinea.

China will likely cut the number of its central government-owned conglomerates to 40 through massive mergers, as Beijing pushes forward a sweeping plan to overhaul the country's underperforming state sector, state media reported on Monday.

Leaders of Asian and African nations called on Wednesday for a new global order that is open to emerging economic powers and leaves the "obsolete ideas" of Bretton Woods institutions in the past.

Chinese president Xi Jinping is due in Pakistan on Monday where he will launch $46 billion in projects linking the old allies, a figure that far exceeds U.S. spending in Pakistan and underscores China's projection of power in Asia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will launch energy and infrastructure projects worth $46 billion on a visit to Pakistan next week as China cements links with its old ally and generates opportunities for firms hit by slack growth at home.

China plans to cut red tape and reduce costs for Chinese firms looking to spread their reach overseas to help boost growth and stave off a wider economic slowdown, according to a statement from the ruling State Council.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Monday he would discuss with the Chinese government recent technology policy moves that Washington has complained constitute unfair regulatory pressure on foreign firms.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that the country should not focus on its economic growth rate only, reiterating China's push for a more sustainable, higher-quality expansion.

China's defense budget this year will rise about 10 percent compared with 2014, a top government official said on Wednesday, outpacing the slowing economy as the country ramps up investment in high-tech equipment such as submarines and stealth jets.

China's regulators are targeting foreign firms, a majority of respondents said in a survey by an American business lobby, citing protectionism among the top concerns for their operations in the world's second largest economy.

China will fight attempts by foreign casinos to lure its citizens abroad, a senior police official said on Friday, which could deal a blow to the gaming firms in Macau and Asian countries that rely on these punters for most of their revenue.

Sri Lanka's cabinet said on Thursday it would allow a $1.5 billion "port city" deal with China to go ahead, dropping a threat to cancel a project approved by the previous government.