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China's economy shows signs of improvement, property sector still in doldrums

China's manufacturing and investment improved in the first two months of the year, while weakness in the property sector weighed on the economy, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.

The report said industrial output rose 7% from a year earlier in January-February, better than analysts had forecast. Spending on factories and equipment, known as fixed-asset investments, rose 4.2%.

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Asian stocks gain ahead of US and Japan rate decisions

Asian stocks advanced Monday ahead of policy decisions this week by Japan's central bank and the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices and U.S. futures rose.

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China's FM meets New Zealand counterpart, in trip that also includes Australia

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday that his country is ready to work with New Zealand to deepen trade and economic ties and address climate change.

Wang met his New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters, at the start of a tour that will also include Australia.

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Wall Street opens higher ahead of a big week of central bank meetings

Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street ahead of a busy week for central banks around the world that could dictate where interest rates go next. The S&P 500 was 1% higher in early trading Monday, coming off its first back-to-back weekly losses since October. It's still close to its all-time high set early last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 133 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 1.5%. Treasury yields held relatively steady. The Federal Reserve will announce its latest decision on interest rates Wednesday. The central banks of Japan and England also meet this week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

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EU announces an $8 bn aid package for Egypt as concerns mount over migration

The European Union has announced a 7.4 billion-euro ($8 billion) aid package for cash-strapped Egypt as concerns mount that economic pressure and conflicts in neighboring countries could drive more migrants to European shores.

The deal, which drew criticism from rights groups over Egypt's human rights record, was signed Sunday afternoon in Cairo by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The ceremony was attended by leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece.

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McDonald's system outages reported worldwide

System failures at McDonald's were reported worldwide Friday, shuttering some restaurants for hours and leading to social media complaints from customers, in what the fast food chain called a "technology outage" that was being fixed.

Chicago-based McDonald's Corp. said the problems were not related to a cybersecurity attack, without giving more details on what caused them.

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Biden opposes plan to sell US Steel to Japan

President Joe Biden has came out in opposition to the planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying that the U.S. needs to "maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers."

In a statement, Biden added: "U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated."

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World markets mostly lower after retreat on Wall Street

Shares retreated Friday in Europe and Asia after a mixed batch of data on the U.S. economy dashed hopes that easier interest rates are coming soon.

Oil prices were lower.

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Honda, Nissan to work together on electric vehicles, intelligent technology

Nissan and Honda announced Friday that they will work together in developing electric vehicles and auto intelligence technology, sectors where Japanese automakers have fallen behind.

The chief executives of Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. appeared together at a news conference in Tokyo to announce that Japan's second and third biggest automakers will look into areas with a potential for collaboration.

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Former Treasury Secretary says he's putting together investor group to buy TikTok

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he's going to put together an investor group to buy TikTok, a day after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban the popular video app in the U.S. if its China-based owner doesn't sell its stake.

TikTok, which has more than 170 million American users, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.

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