Fishermen freed as speculation grows that Beijing may be planning for regime change

Rangers FC plans to raise £20m

The three most profitable banks in the world are now Chinese, illustrating how far financial power has shifted from Europe and America since the credit crunch.

BG signed a $1.5bn (£940m) agreement with the Bank of China yesterday to fund an expansion of the oil and gas giant's activities in the country.

David Cameron insisted human rights issues were not "off limits" with China today after holding talks with Premier Wen Jiabao.

Outlook The $20bn (£13bn) of proceeds from General Motors' return to the American stock market could rise as high as $23bn over the next few weeks, assuming various options are exercised. If so, GM will have struck a small victory for the US in the ongoing battle for economic bragging rights: earlier this year, the flotation of the Agricultural Bank of China broke the world record for an initial public offering (IPO), raising $22bn (the previous record holder being Visa, for its $19.6bn float a couple of years back). GM is set to grab it back.

Agricultural bank of China is set to raise $22.2bn (£14.6bn) from its initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong, making it the largest flotation ever.

Standard Chartered yesterday said that it will invest $500m (£334m) in Agricultural Bank of China, which is in the process of floating its shares on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. The investment is designed to give the FTSE 100-listed bank a stronger foothold in Asia.

Tesco failed to make any headway last night, with Citigroup saying that, when compared more closely to peers, the supermarket giant offered less in the way of value.

The waste management group Shanks attempted a comeback as bargain hunters piled in last night.