Manufacturing activity in China contracted in May for the first time in seven months, HSBC said Thursday, in another sign of the weakness of recovery in the world's second-largest economy. The banking giant's preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.6 this month from a final 50.4 in April, putting it below the 50 mark that indicates contraction. A reading above signals expansion. It was the lowest figure since October's 49.5, according to the bank's data, and the first time it had been below 50 since then.

SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government on Thursday introduced a set of measures aimed at attracting more foreign investment to help create jobs and boost economic growth. The measures, approved Thursday by the Foreign Investment Committee, include additional financial incentives for investors who invest in areas outside of the Seoul metropolitan area, a move aimed at creating jobs in rural areas, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.

Myanmar's economy is expected to grow 6.75 percent in fiscal 2013, ending March 2014, somewhat accelerating from an estimated 6.5 percent expansion a year earlier, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday after a two-week review of the country's economy. "The authorities' ambitious reform program is bearing fruit, with macroeconomic stability and high investor interest," the IMF said in a statement.

The Federal Reserve has begun reviewing its strategy to exit stimulus measures, according to the minutes of the last FOMC policy meeting released Wednesday. But officials at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on April 30-May 1 remained divided over just when to begin tapering down the exceptionally accommodative policy used to support the US economy's recovery, the minutes showed. With indicators pointing to moderate growth, the FOMC began an update of the exit strategy outlined in the panel's June 2011 meeting.