Fresh trade data from China shows a steep drop in the value of both imports and exports, the value of imports fell by 14.3 percent year-on-year, while exports are down by 6.1%.
Some analysts had expected the drop in trade to be more severe.
As exports have slowed at a faster pace than imports, the country's trade surplus jumped by 40 percent month-on-month to $57.8bn - just below the record surplus value registered in February.
These figures are the latest in a series of economic indicators which suggest that China has entered a broad slowdown.
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40 Irish-based bankers earned more than €1m in 2013, the latest year for which overall figures are available, according to the European Banking Authority.
The report says that of the 40 - 13 were involved in asset management, 12 in investment banking and five in retail activities
Under government regulation the remuneration of the chief executives of so-called pillar banks in which the government has a significant shareholding is limited to €500,000, though this does not apply to chief executives such as Richie Boucher of Bank of Ireland who was already in situ before the tax payer bailout.
The European Banking Authority says the number of bankers earning more than €1m across Europe fell by about 250 to 3,180 in 2013. Two-thirds are based in London and the average ratio of bonus to basic salary was 104%.
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Property investors, Green Reit believes that Dublin will be over supplied with office space by 2018 as the developments which are currently being built come on stream.
The company says that its 24 properties were worth €968.3m at the end of its financial year on June 30th - that's 24.2% more than 12 months before.
Yesterday Green Reit reported profits of €156.3m in the 12 months to the end of June - up from €43.1m for the previous year.
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Goldman Sachs has predicted that Tullow Oil could be a takeover target as its shares have slumped over the last two months.
The prediction caused a brief bounce in the value of shares in the company, but they soon declined again as energy prices continue to fall.
This is the third time since April that Goldman Sachs has predicted that it is likely that an investor could buy the company.