With launch events scheduled for this Wednesday in Beijing to launch two new Android powered Google handsets, Google has confirmed today that the company would “postpone” the launch, giving no explanation.

Google spokeswoman Marsha Wang made the announcement today and did not elaborate further, other than to say that the launch had been postponed.

The news comes as Google threatened to stop censoring Chinese search results and to entirely cease operations in China after sophisticated cyber attacks on Google’s infrastructure aimed at compromising trade secrets and compromising confidential information, including email messages from Chinese activists, allegedly originated from Beijing.

Read the full story

GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre made a bold statement today, telling reporters at the Detroit auto show that he expected American taxpayers to profit from the $6.7 billion emergency Treasury loans.

He went on to say that it wouldn’t be “too long,” and that it would be a good investment for the American government and people.

GM is forecasting a full-year profit in 2010, where the last full-year fiscal profit was five years ago.

The comments were made just as China became the world’s largest auto market in the world, edging out the U.S., as its sales increased significantly by 46-percent (to 13.6 million vehicles) year over year. U.S. sales decreased by 21-percent (10.4 million vehicles sold) in the same period.

Read the full story

Bombardier Zefiro high-speed Chinese train (high res)

Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier has announced it has been awarded a significant $2 billion contract to build 80 ultra high-speed trains for China.

Bombardier will build the Zefiro 380 trains that can travel up to 380 km/h.

Bombardier is scheduled to deliver the first train by the end of 2012 with all the trains being delivered by 2014.

Read the full story

The most successful investor in the world, Warren Buffett, has announced his investment firm, MidAmerican (part of Berkshire Hathaway), would increase its financial stake in the Chinese automobile battery producer turned carmaker BYD Corp, sending the stock rallying up today.

BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu said today, “MidAmerican has always intended to raise its stake in BYD because it believes BYD has good prospects in the development of renewable energy,”

The exact stake increase is currently unclear.

Read the full story

China’s second largest carrier China Unicom has announced today that it has struck a multi-year agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone 3G S to China.

China Unicom currently has about 140 million subscribers, with about 690 million mobile phone users in all of China.

Not much was disclosed today, except the fact that the iPhone will become available sometime in the forth quarter of 2009. Neither revenue sharing nor pricing details were disclosed.

Reports indicate as part of the deal, China Unicom would

Read the full story

China’s sovereign wealth fund announced today it would invest $1.5 billion CND in Teck Resources Corp., a leading Canadian minor. The Chinese Class B investment will amount to a 17.2 percent stake in the minor, and give the Chinese 6.7 percent in voting power. The deal will be finalized by July 14, 2009. No other information was released regarding the Beijing investment.

GM, the struggling auto giant under bankruptcy protection, has sold its Hummer brand to Chinese industrial firm Sichuan Tengzhong.

The move comes part of a restructuring strategy where GM will sell-off some of its less profitable brands including Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, and possibly others.

GM introduced the Hummer brand in 1999. The Hummer brand is the first causality part of the restructuring process.

Read the full story

GM reported this morning that GM auto sales in China for March 2009 are up 24.6% from March 2008 to 137,004 cars. The number is the most GM has ever sold in China in one month. China remains a strong emerging market for GM as the company tries to maximize sales and re-establish itself as a viable automaker.

GM faces bankruptcy as the U.S. government June 1 reorganization deadline approaches. It is also believed GM could spinoff into two companies, one with higher performing divisions, and the other with the weaker divisions.

GM most recently unveiled the PUMA Segway style car yesterday.

China is set to announce full auto sales figures for March tomorrow.

Reports indicate that RIM will be launching the BlackBerry Storm in Hong Kong by the end of Q2 of this year. The phone will be available in various carriers including China Mobile, and 3 Hong Kong, among others. No pricing is available. RIM might have a tuff time selling the Storm in China, as the BlackBerry in Asia is not viewed as a very ideal or attractive phone because it simply lacks the advanced features Asian consumers have become accustomed to with a variety of other more advanced handsets.

Update: President Obama rejected the claims of replacing the dollar as the global reserve currency. Obama said that the United States is considered “the strongest economy in the world with the most stable political system,” and described the dollar as “extraordinarily strong”.

Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the Chinese Central Bank, is calling to replace the dollar as the main global reserve currency, citing the dangers of the current economic crisis on heavily relying on one currency essentially controlled by the west.

Zhou said, “A super-sovereign reserve currency managed by a global institution could be used to both create and control global liquidity.” Read the full story