China's Communist leaders gathered Monday to plan the country's course for the next five years, official media reported, as the world's second largest economy confronts slowing growth and structural inefficiencies.

Beijing has pledged to tackle economic malaise and rampant pollution as it faces increasing calls to address problems that have soured the public mood and worried investors.

Oil prices rose slightly in Asian trade Monday after sharp falls the previous week on oversupply fears, with traders awaiting the release of U.S. and European data.

Analysts said the market was broadly unmoved by news China had cut interest rates for a sixth time in a year on Friday as the world's number two economy suffers a growth slowdown.

China's economy does not need to grow seven percent this year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said late on Saturday, after data last week showed the economy grew at the slowest pace since the financial crisis.

But China can still overcome economic problems, Li said in a speech at the Central Party School, which trains cadres, according to a notice on the central government's website.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen faces a rare open split among her team of policymakers as they head into a meeting Tuesday and Wednesday to again weigh raising interest rates.

A new wave of doubts about the U.S. economy among several Fed officials is almost certain to see the central bank again put off the decision for its first hike in the benchmark federal funds rate in nine years, analysts say.

British Prime Minister David Cameron's government faced a growing row Sunday over plans to cut welfare payments for low-income workers on the eve of a highly sensitive vote in parliament.

Finance minister George Osborne, a possible successor to Cameron and his de facto deputy, wants to cut tax credits as part of £12 billion (17 billion euros, $18 billion) in welfare cuts to help reduce Britain's deficit.

The European commissioner for the euro told Athens it has "no time to lose" in carrying out reforms its international creditors have demanded in exchange for bailout funds, in an interview published Sunday.

"The immediate priority is to apply the (reform) program and (to ensure) the success of the first evaluation," Valdis Dombrovskis said in remarks published in Greece's To Vima newspaper a day before his scheduled arrival in the debt-ridden country.

China's anti-corruption watchdog said it would expand its inspections to major financial institutions including the central bank and regulatory authorities, which are already under pressure after a spectacular stock market meltdown.

After a series of probes into large state-owned enterprises -- in particular oil firms -- the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party monitor, now plans to target the financial sector.

French President Francois Hollande on Friday pledged to help Greece carry out its bailout reforms by modernizing its state and tax administration.

"France must continue to stand by Greece," Hollande told reporters after signing a strategic partnership with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to provide French management expertise.

South Korea's Kia Motors said Friday that weakening demand in the world's largest auto market, China, contributed to a more than 16 percent drop in third quarter profit.

Slowing economic growth in China and a stock market rout have hit sales hard in a market crucial to foreign auto makers, especially given weak sales in Europe and a still recovering United States.

Russia plans to open a $5 billion credit line for Iran to help finance infrastructure projects in the country, officials from both countries said Thursday during a visit by Moscow's energy minister, Alexander Novak.

"We hope we can open a $5 billion (4.5 billion euros) credit line," Novak told Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi, according to ISNA news agency.