CHINA

Crackdown on Stamp Speculators Announced: China announced plans to outmaneuver illegal speculators in postage stamps, a popular black market in a country where conventional stock exchanges and other investment opportunities are only beginning to emerge. The main strategy of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is to flood the market with new stamps, the official China Daily said. Postal officials will closely monitor large institutional purchasers of stamps, and clerks will be instructed to make block sales only to approved customers, the newspaper said.