Companies in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong raised US$14 billion through initial public offerings (IPOs) in the third quarter of 2007, well over double the US$6 billion raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a quarterly Global IPO Report from Ernst & Young, the professional services firm.

China companies completed 77 IPOs in a record quarter for China IPOs - up from 46 IPOs in the same period a year earlier.

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By Jim Bai and Rujun Shen

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Oct 31 (Reuters) - China's worst fuel crisis in two years spread to the capital and other inland areas by Wednesday, and one man was killed in a brawl at a petrol station queue, upping pressure on the government to intervene.

Special report: China launches first lunar orbiter

    BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- China's lunar probe Chang'e-1 completed its fourth orbital transfer on Wednesday afternoon, a critical move to push it to fly to the moon "in a real sense."

    The engine on the probe was started at 5:15 p.m.. Thirteen minutes later, the probe was successfully shifted to the earth-moon transfer orbit with an apogee of about 380,000 km.