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Cross-border crime worth $870 bn a year

Turnover of cross-border organised crime is about $870 billion a year, more than six times the total of official development aid, and stopping this threat to peace is one of the greatest global challenges, a U.N. agency said on Monday. The most lucrative businesses for criminals are drug trafficking and counterfeiting, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said, launching an awareness-raising campaign about the size and cost of cross-border criminal networks.

Profits at China state companies fall

China's state-owned firms produced a total profit of 1.02 trillion yuan ($159.9 billion) in the first six months of 2012, 11.6 percent less than one year earlier, according to the ministry of finance. For the first four months of this year, combined profit was only 8.6% lower than in the same period of 2011, the ministry said. In a statement published on its website, www.mof.gov.cn, the ministry attributed the decline in cumulative earnings to input costs at state-owned firms rising more quickly than revenue. The statement did not say how many state firms there were this year or in the past.

China's H1 FDI down 3% over euro crisis concerns

China's foreign direct investment inflows fell 3% in the first half of 2012 from a year earlier, with inflows falling for six consecutive months, as concerns over Europe's debt crisis and a slowdown in China's economy dampened investment appetite. Wang Chao, a vice-commerce minister, said on Monday that the country drew about $59.1 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) between January and June, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Based on previously announced figures, that implies FDI in June alone came to around $12 billion, a drop of about 7% from the same month a year earlier.

Hyundai Motor union plans new strike

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