TopNews

Beijing, July 18 - Prices of both new and existing homes continued to rise in most Chinese cities in June, according to official data released Thursday.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 63 cities saw month-on-month home price rises. However, the number was down from 65 cities that reported higher prices in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on its website.

The management of the Invercargill Airport is planning to introduce a departure tax on travelers passing through the airport in order to fund a new terminal building, which would require an investment of $13.3 million.

Energy Mad, a New Zealand based light bulb manufacturer, has entered into an agreement with retailer, Walgreens in the US to sell its Ecobulb light bulbs in its stores during this year.

Walgreens, which is among the largest retailers in the US, will display the bulbs at its 1350 stores around the country. The Ecobulb light bulbs that are sold Ecospirals in the US, will be available to the US consumers on Walgreens shelves for this year under the agreement, in a move that will boost the Kiwi firm's business in the United sates.

Computing giant, International Business Machine Corp has said that its net income has fallen 17 per cent during the second quarter of the year as it had to absorb the cost of laying off its workers.

Technology firm, Silex Systems is planning to build the largest solar power station in the country near Mildura in Victoria and is initiating discussions for financing the project.

Aurizon, the largest listed rail company in Australia, has said that it is planning to generate more than $230 million in cost savings from its business during the next two years, in a move that would include job cuts and property sales.

Aurizon, which was earlier known as QR National, also said that it has hauled almost 194 million tonnes of coal in the year to June, mostly in line with its latest guidance. The company had lowered its forecast for the amount of coal it would haul for the year to between 192 million tonne and 195 million tonnes.