NEW YORK (Reuters) - The euro and U.S. dollar rallied on Friday after strong import data from China raised optimism about global growth, while stocks edged higher, buoyed by the economic outlook and rising oil prices.

As debate over immigration swirls in Germany, a Berlin restaurant with a Chinese immigrant owner and an extensive German wine list is thriving.

Rapid urbanization expected to propel China to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest credit-card market by 2020, Mastercard said.

China's currency hit a new high against the dollar, which may signal a fresh attempt by the government to deal with rising U.S. political pressure.

Beijing grapples with measures to cool the real-estate market as analysts say prices aren't likely to cool in the coming months.

Economists were surprised by the size of the growth in China’s imports, which rose 35.2 percent in August compared with the same month a year ago.

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda called for talks with China over its recent yen buying spree, which has helped drive the Japanese currency higher.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose to a four-month high on Friday as some investors were inspired by positive U.S. and Japanese economic data to pick out bargains, with the shift to riskier assets weighing on the yen.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A major U.S. union is asking the Obama administration to crack down on various Chinese trade practices that it says are robbing American workers of jobs in the burgeoning field of clean energy such as solar and wind power.

The United Steelworkers union plans to file a legal case that accuses China of violating World Trade Organization rules.