Beijing - China's ruling Communist Party sees the signing of four economic agreements with Taiwan on Tuesday as a small step on the path that it hopes will lead to eventual unification with the island state, a leading scholar said.

"In this situation the main aims are to promote economic, trade and cultural exchanges across the Strait, and to realize and normalize the 'three direct links' of trade, mail, and air and shipping services across the Taiwan Strait," Li Jiaquan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"This trip does not cover political issues," Li said of the three-day visit to Taiwan by Chen Yunlin, the head of China's Association of Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).

Beijing - The death toll has risen to 26 with more than 40 people still missing after heavy rain caused landslides in mountainous areas of south-western China's Yunnan province, the government said Monday.

Torrential rain caused mud and rock to flow down valleys and hillsides in at least 13 counties of Yunnan over the past few days, affecting more than 411,000 people, the provincial Civil Affairs Department reported on its website.

Beijing - The death toll has risen to at least 22 with 45 people still missing after heavy rain caused several landslides in mountainous areas of southwestern China's Yunnan province, the government said Monday.

Torrential rain caused mud and rock to flow down valleys and hillsides in at least 13 counties of Yunnan over the past few days, affecting more than 411,000 people, the provincial Civil Affairs Department reported on its website.

At least 284 homes collapsed and more than 700 others were damaged with electricity and telecommunications cut off to several areas, the report said.

State media quoted officials as saying it was still too early to confirm the exact number of landslides in remote areas.

Beijing - Severe snowstorms have left at least nine people dead and trapped hundreds in China's Tibet region, state media said on Saturday.

Rescuers had evacuated 1,892 people in the worst-hit counties of Lhunze and Cuona in Tibet's Shannan district and were trying to reach some 250 people still trapped by heavy snowfall, the semi-official China News Service said.

Most of the nine people who died had either frozen to death or were hit by falling buildings brought down by the weight of snow, other reports said.

The worst-hit areas reported snow lying an average of 1.5 metres deep after heavy snow fell for 36 hours continuously earlier this week, the official China Daily said.

Beijing - The global economic crisis is expected to slow China's economy down from previous double-digit growth rates to 9.8 per cent in 2008, Chinese officials said Friday.

After a significant slowdown in the third quarter, caused by the economic crisis, China's economy grew 9.9 per cent in the first nine months of the year, less than expected, China's State Information Centre was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.

The effects of the crisis were expected to increase gradually, the centre said, adding that China's economic planners will have to concentrate on ensuring rapid and stable growth in 2009.

Beijing, Oct 30 : The Chinese government is learnt to have chalked out a new schedule for holding another round of talks with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s representatives “in the near future”.

The announcement of the planned talks came a day after the Dalai Lama reportedly called a special meeting of Tibetan exile communities and political organizations next month.

The five-day gathering, scheduled for mid-November, could mark a shift in the Dalai Lama''s strategy for dealing with the central government, foreign media have reported.