The heated competition for next year's civil servant positions - in which 4,000 people might fight for one job - has not scared away job-seekers as the number of applicants is expected to hit a historical high.

Geely Holding Group Co's 10-month effort to buy Volvo from Ford Motor Co may fall apart within days as the companies struggle to agree on intellectual property rights, two people familiar with the talks said.

Allianz SE and American Express Co plan to keep their Industrial Commercial Bank of China Ltd stakes, which have a combined value of about $3.1 billion, past a lockup on the holdings that expired yesterday.

"Achieving a growth rate of 8 percent for the year is basically no problem," said an official with the country's top economic planner, as statistics for September showed improvements in trade, housing sales, manufacturing and car sales.

The launching of third-generation services by China's leading cell phone operators this fall signals the start of a battle for top position in the world's largest mobile phone market.