China's upcoming political changes represent a breakthrough chance to boost its economy by accelerating reforms and fostering innovation, a European business group said Thursday.

The Communist Party is slated to carry out a once-in-a-decade revamp of top officials in coming weeks with Hu Jintao stepping down as general secretary before resigning as the country's president in March.

Australian bank customers scored a major win in a class action against top lenders Thursday, with the nation's highest court ruling they could challenge a wide range of fees as excessive.

The High Court of Australia found in favor of the 38,000 customers of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) fighting back against the fees, overturning an earlier ruling limiting the case to credit card charges.

The United States Wednesday unveiled $21 million in new aid help those caught up in the conflict in Syria, boosting its humanitarian funding to over $100 million.

USAID head Rajiv Shah announced during a visit to Jordan that the new funds would be made available to the U.N. World Food Program to help feed Syrians both inside and outside the country.

European leaders piled up reassuring declarations on the Eurozone on Wednesday, the eve of a keenly-awaited meeting of the European Central Bank's governing council.

European President Herman Van Rompuy slapped away speculation that the debt crisis would bring down the euro, while Germany's finance minister forecast that the single currency would be more stable in a year's time and that heavily indebted Greece would remain in the Eurozone.

The Netherlands will not contribute any further aid to debt-ridden Greece, but Athens could be given more time to get its finances on an even keel, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday.

"Two major rescue packages have been agreed on for Greece," said Rutte, who represented his People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) during a live televised debate, eight days ahead of Dutch elections.

The Bank of England is expected on Thursday to refrain from pumping more cash into the British economy, despite news that it remained stuck in recession during the second quarter, economists said.

The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which begins a two-day meeting on Wednesday, is also forecast to maintain its key lending rate at a record low 0.50 percent, where it has stood since March 2009.

A slowdown in China's economy is perceived as the biggest risk to Asia's economic growth, a survey of regional powerbrokers released Wednesday said.

While there were also worries about the weakness in the European and U.S. economies, the survey by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) think tank said there was more concern over the effects of a slowdown in China.

Iraq's cabinet threatened on Tuesday to cut the autonomous Kurdish region's budget by $3 billion over a suspension of oil exports in a wide-ranging dispute between the two sides.

Kurdish authorities in Arbil suspended exports of oil via central government pipelines in April as a result of a payment dispute, restarting them last month as part of a goodwill gesture that is due to expire on September 15.

Starbucks is betting on big returns as it seeks to lure an expanding legion of coffee lovers in India -- primarily a tea-drinking nation where lifestyle changes have spawned a booming market for cafes.

After eyeing the Indian market for years, the world's largest coffee chain is planning its foray into the country later this year, with an initial $78 million investment to tap the country's fast-growing appetite for the drink.

Moody's on Monday lowered the European Union's long-term issuer rating outlook from stable to negative, saying the move reflected credit risks of the bloc's key budget contributors.

"It is reasonable to assume that the EU's creditworthiness should move in line with the creditworthiness of its strongest key member states," it said, citing negative outlooks for Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands.