His upcoming visit marks EP President's first visit in the past13 years.

"Napoleon said China is a sleeping lion, but I think now China is a lion awakening," Borrell said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

The EP president said China's economic growth was "miraculous," citing the fact that it had recently overtaken Britain and France to become the fourth largest economy in the world.

"China is producing everything, and it is the manufacturing center of the globe. We Europeans believe China is a lion awakening," said Borrell.

Borrell's last China tour dated back to 1988 when he was a senior official of the Spanish government. Borrell said he was then impressed by Shanghai, and later he read a lot about China, especially those books about Chinese history and culture.

Borrell said he liked Chinese food so much that he even befriended a boss of a Chinese restaurant near his house.

In 2005, Borrell became the first EP President who formally extended the greeting of "happy new year" to the Chinese people through a TV channel, which enjoyed widespread applause in China.

"I was very pleased to have this opportunity to address the Chinese people and to express the EP's best wishes for the Chinese 'year of the dog'," he said. "It is a very important tradition for your people and such gestures will help us to get to know each other better."

Borrell's spokesperson told Xinhua that Borrell's upcoming China tour would last seven days, and he was expected to visit Beijing, Lhasa and Shanghai.

"My objective is to see as much as possible of what the real China is today: the political authorities, the economic transformation," he said.

As for his meeting with Chinese leaders, Borrell said he hopes to talk about "the opportunities that arise from a strengthened relationship with the EU."

He said he also wanted to talk about what both sides could do to "help each other face the challenges of the rapid global transformations," such as the impact on migration, environment, social provision, and the role of parliaments in mapping out solutions to these challenges.

On the relations between China and the European Union (EU), Borrell said the China-EU relations have been strengthened and improved for the recent years.

"Contacts at all levels can only help to promote greater understanding, and an atmosphere of trust in which all questions can be raised," he said.

"Last year relations were even more intense, as we commemorated the 30th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic ties," he added.

Borrell also spoke highly of exchanges of visits between the EP and China's National People Congress (NPC), and of those between the EP party groups and the Communist Party of China.

"The parliamentary aspect of this relationship is a key element of this relationship. Parliamentary discussions have a particular value in promoting understanding between peoples as well as governments," he said.

"Recently a delegation of the European Parliament, led by the Chairman of the legal affairs committee, visited China. Some of the political group chairmen also visited China recently. Such contacts are the best way to deepen the relations between the European Parliament and the NPC," he added.

Gasoline futures jumped by more than 5.7 cents to settle at 2.2758 dollars a gallon, heating oil closed at 2.0626 dollars a gallon, up 3.4 cents.

The previous intraday record for front-month oil futures was 75.35 dollars, set on April 21.

Oil prices are now roughly 26 percent higher than a year ago, but still below all-time inflation-adjusted highs of around 90 dollars.

But with global oil demand approaching 85 million barrels per day, traders are extremely nervous about the possibility of any supply disruptions, especially because there is less than 2 million barrels a day of spare production capacity, most of it in Saudi Arabia.

A protracted diplomatic standoff between the West and Iran, OPEC's No. 2 oil supplier, has kept a high floor beneath prices. Markets already have been jittery about Iran's nuclear program and violence in Nigeria and the Middle East.

The latest spike in oil comes one day before the U.S. government releases its closely watched weekly petroleum supply report Thursday.

Gasoline supplies are expected to show a decline for a second straight week as demand runs about 1 percent above year ago levels for the past month.

In the first half of 2006, U.S. employers announced 436,458 job cuts, 19 percent lower than the 538,274 cuts seen in the first half of 2005, the firm said. Most of the layoffs in June resulted from cost cutting, Challenger said in a statement.

The automotive industry was the hardest hit sector in June with 12,159 job cuts, for a total of 69,334 losses in the first half of the year in that industry alone.

"Many economists are pointing toward a slowdown in the second half of the year, due in part to weaker consumer spending as well as inflation. Consumers at the gas pump are not the only ones seeing their budgets squeezed," Challenger said, adding companies' costs were soaring due to high energy and materials costs.

"The priority in spending by our customers is on food and consumables," said Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart's chief financial officer.

Tropical Storm Alberto and recent flooding in the U.S. Northeast also crimped demand in what is typically a month of summer clearance sales. Schools open as early as August in parts of the United States, so retailers are already making room for back-to-school sales.

Overall, analysts expect a 3 percent increase in retail sales at stores open at least a year -- a key measure known as same-store sales -- according to research firm Retail Metrics.

Wal-Mart confirmed that its June same-store sales rose just 1.2 percent, near the low end of its forecast and below Wall Street expectations.

For July, the retailer expects 1 percent to 3 percent same-store sales growth.

Costco posted a 6 percent June same-store sales increase, below analysts' expectations for 7.3 percent growth. The retailer said the July 4th holiday fell later in its July reporting period, which probably pushed some demand out of the June period.

Apparel companies including Limited, Chico's FAS Inc. and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. all posted lower-than-expected sales.

Pier 1 reported a steeper-than-expected 18.4 percent drop in same-store sales as it struggles to modernize its merchandise and win back customers from discount chains and specialty stores.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. was among the few companies posting surprisingly strong same-store sales growth with an 11 percent jump, and it raised its quarterly profit forecast.