With too few farms in China to feed a burgeoning population, Chinese immigrants have started buying up agricultural lands in Canada and shipping produce to Asia.

But with new investment comes fears that a generation of young Canadian would-be farmers are being squeezed out of the market by newcomers that some suspect are being bankrolled by the government in Beijing.

Rising temperatures, storms linked to climate change and growing competition for water and land point to tough times ahead for the business sector, but also a chance for profitable innovation, the U.N. said Friday.

Citing the ravages of floods in Australia in 2010-11 which cost insurer Munich Re $350 million (265 million euros) and mining group Rio Tinto another $245 million, the report said companies had no choice but to adapt.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed Thursday how the single currency's rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, will be able to inject funds directly into failing banks so as to minimize the risk posed to the financial system.

"The main guidelines of how the ESM will operate have been agreed," Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said.

The European Union said Friday it had started ministerial-level talks with China, were they are expected to discuss rows over solar panels and other products, as tensions between the two risk escalating into a trade war.

Gao Hucheng, China's Minister of Commerce, and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht are in attendance at the annual meeting of the joint economic and trade commission, William Fingleton, spokesman for the EU side, said in an e-mail.

The interest rate China's banks charge to lend money to each other fell sharply Friday, easing fears of a liquidity shortage after hitting record highs.

However, analysts said the central People's Bank of China (PBoC) would likely keep a tight grip on credit owing to worries over too much bad debt.

Fast-growing budget carrier AirAsia said Thursday it had ordered 100 engines worth $8.6 billion from manufacturer CFM International to power Airbus A320 airliners ordered last year.

The deal inked Wednesday in France includes 64 new LEAP-1A engines for fuel-efficient A320neo jets, the Malaysia-based carrier said in a statement.

Britain's five biggest banks needed an extra £27.1 billion ($41.9 billion, 31.6 billion euros) at the end of 2012 to meet rules on capital backup, and must sell more assets and slash costs further, regulators said on Thursday.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Bank of England's banking supervision division, said in a statement that this figure compared with the previous estimated shortfall of £25 billion given in March.

China's manufacturing activity shrank again in June, HSBC said Thursday, hitting a nine-month low and adding to concerns about the strength of the world's second biggest economy.

The British banking giant said its preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 48.3, worse than May's final reading of 49.2 and its lowest since September.

Big accountancy Deloitte was fined $10 million by New York state on Tuesday for its actions in advising Standard Chartered Bank over money laundering.

Deloitte's unit Deloitte Financial Advisory Services was fined and also banned for one year from work in New York state after state authorities said it did not carry out its duties independently in advising the bank on how to avoid money laundering.

Global stock markets were mostly lower Wednesday as investors waited for an update on the U.S. economy from the Federal Reserve.

Investors were waiting to see if the Fed, which wraps up a two-day policy meeting later in the day in Washington, will make changes to its strategy of super-low interest rates and easy money that is helping to shore up the U.S. economy. Any change is likely to ripple through stock markets.