Gold output

    CHINA’S gold output climbed 5.5 percent last year to nearly 452 tons, making the country the world’s biggest producer for the eighth straight year, the China Gold Association said Friday.

    Total consumption reached around 886 tons over the year, down 24.7 percent on a year earlier, the association said in a separate notice. “Although 2014 gold consumption fell by a large margin, the (longer-term) trend of increasing demand has not changed,” the association noted, saying that last year’s fall came after a very rapid increase in gold purchases in the second half of 2013 as a result of declining prices.

    Porsche recall

    GERMANY’S Porsche will recall 14,571 cars in China due to defective camshaft adjusters, the national quality watchdog said.

    Recalled cars include several imported Panamera models made from April 2009 to Sept. 2011 and two imported Cayenne models made from March 2010 to September 2011, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its website.

    GM China sales

    GENERAL Motors (GM) Co. and its Chinese joint ventures sold 339,781 vehicles in China in January, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier, the U.S. automaker said Friday.

    That follows a 31.9 percent year-on-year rise in December and a 5.3 percent rise in November. In 2014, GM’s China sales rose 12 percent.