A Hong Kong broadcaster made a public apology Thursday and said it had withdrawn an inaccurate report that former Chinese president Jiang Zemin had died.

China's Xinhua state news agency denied rumors on Thursday that former president Jiang Zemin had died after a Hong Kong television station said he had, sparking a wave of speculation about a leadership transition due next year.

A Chinese diplomat met with leaders of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) at their base in Benghazi, China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, building deeper relationships with rebels seeking to oust Moammar Gadhafi.

China's Foreign Ministry warned U.S. officials on Thursday not to meet with visiting exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying it hoped Washington “appropriately dealt” with Tibet-related issues.

A coal mine fire trapped 28 workers underground in eastern China on Thursday as rescuers elsewhere tried to reach 42 miners not seen since heavy rains flooded two other mines over the weekend, officials said.

China raised interest rates for the third time this year on Wednesday, making clear that taming inflation remains a top priority even as the growth rate of its vast economy gently eases.

Rumors that retired Chinese leader Jiang Zemin was dead or dying raced through Internet in China on Wednesday, sending state censors into overdrive to excise them and in turn spurring people to craft ever more cryptic and inventive postings.

China's soaring coal consumption in the last decade held back global warming as sulfur emissions served as a coolant, according to a study that takes head-on a key argument of climate skeptics.

The Chinese embassy in Manila on Wednesday rejected Philippine criticism of one of its senior officials who has been “banned” from the foreign ministry, amid high tensions over a maritime row.

American energy giant ConocoPhillips on Wednesday defended its response to a pair of oil leaks off China's northeast coast, saying it acted quickly to contain damage caused by the spills and that cleanup work is almost finished.