More travellers in Asia

SINGAPORE: Travel bookings in Asia rose 10 per cent in April from a year ago, signalling strong growth in the second quarter, Asia’s leading air ticketing and reservations company said on Friday. Abacus International said however that recovery of tsunami-hit tourism destinations was taking a little longer than expected, particularly for Krabi and Phuket in Thailand. —AFP

Textile curb irks China

JEJU: Restrictions placed by the United States on Chinese textile imports are threatening to undermine two decades of economic relations between the two countries, China’s trade minister said, adding that Beijing does not want an escalation in trade tensions. On the sidelines of APEC meet, trade minister Bo Xilai called the US-imposed restrictions on Chinese textile imports “trade protectionism”. —AFP

Japan’s import worries

TOKYO: The Japanese government on Friday threw cold water on optimism the Chinese market for imports will keep surging forward, cautioning companies they are taking risks if they expand in hopes of more exports. China’s market has been a key driver of Japan’s economic recovery, but a government report said the trend no longer held true. – AFP

Chinese co in Nigeria

LAGOS: A Chinese firm has invested $10 million in Nigeria’s telecom sector since it began operations in the west African country six years ago, its managing director has said. Huawei managing director John Wang told reporters in Abuja on Thursday that the money was spent on the installation of training equipment at a centre it set up in the country. — AFP