China's Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday the Asian giant had neither the ability nor the intention to "buy Europe", amid concerns over growing Chinese investment in debt-stricken Eurozone economies.

China is "willing to cooperate with Europe to fight the current crisis. Some people say this means China wants to buy Europe", Wen told a German-China business forum in the southern city of Guangzhou.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde vowed Thursday to support Tunisia and urged its new leaders to focus their efforts on job creation to win back investor confidence.

"The IMF in 2012 is not what it used to be in the eighties and is now a partner that will always be ready to support Tunisia if and when it needs it," Lagarde told reporters in Tunis.

Social networking titan Facebook filed to go public on Wednesday, seeking to raise $5 billion in the largest flotation ever by an Internet company on Wall Street.

The paperwork for the initial public offering provided the first glimpse of the financial details of the Web giant launched eight years ago by Mark Zuckerberg from his Harvard University dorm room when he was just 19.

Asian shares were mixed in cautious trade Wednesday amid weaker-than-expected US economic data, slumping Japanese corporate earnings and ongoing uncertainty over Europe's debt crisis.

Markets were broadly unmoved by official data from China showing manufacturing activity improved slightly in January, while a separate study by HSBC showed a continued contraction, albeit at a slower pace.

Oil prices hovered below $99 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as investors eyed a jump in U.S. crude inventories and signs of sluggish economic growth.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 15 cents at $98.63 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 30 cents to settle at $98.48 on Tuesday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has presented parliament a draft budget that would cut government spending by 5.6 percent while allocating more money for development projects.

The $416 billion budget, unveiled Wednesday, is about 5 percent less than the previous year's budget, and comes at a time when Iran is facing mounting international sanctions and isolation over its controversial nuclear program. Iran disputes the West's claim that the program is aimed at producing weapons.

Airport authorities in the Emirati capital have been cleared to begin building a futuristic airport terminal that will house fast-growing Etihad Airways.

State-run Abu Dhabi Airports Company said Wednesday it hopes to begin construction on the planned Midfield Terminal Complex between April and June after getting approval from the emirate's Executive Council.

European banks plan to borrow at least twice as much money from the European Central Bank as they did in December, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, a sign of further stress in the sector.

"Several of the Eurozone’s biggest banks told the Financial Times that they could double or triple their request for funds" when the ECB makes its second round of exceptional three-year loans on February 29, the report said.

Turkey's trade deficit widened by 47.7 percent in 2011 as both exports and imports increased, official data showed on Tuesday.

The gap reached 105.8 billion dollars (80.2 billion euros) from 71.6 billion dollars in 2010, the state statistics institute said.

Tokyo stocks added 0.11 percent Tuesday as investor fears over the yen's strength slightly eased and they welcomed better-than-expected industrial output data for December.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 9.46 points to 8,802.51. The Topix index lost 1.74 points or 0.23 percent to 755.27.