Beijing - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for talks with Chinese leaders and the expected signing of several economic deals.

Chavez was scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday afternoon, following which the two leaders would attend the signing of several joint documents, foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

Asked earlier if the documents to be signed in Beijing would include deals on energy and military fighter jets, Jiang said she had "no information" on military trade.

Last week she said discussions were "under way" on possible energy deals, but she declined to give details.

Beijing - Shares on China's main stock market leapt by nearly 8 per cent on Monday, following an even bigger jump on Friday, spurred by weekend news of the US government's financial rescue plan.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in local and foreign currencies, gained 161.32 points, or 7.77 per cent, to end the day at 2,236.41.

The rise followed a gain of 9.46 per cent in Shanghai on Friday, the previous trading day, and was also influenced by the government's easing of rules for share buy-back, state media said.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose by 3.8 per cent, or 22.62 points, to close at 618.34 on Monday.

Beijing - China's top leaders have urged officials across the country to respond to the growing scandal over tainted milk after one government department said it had received more than 100,000 complaints about dairy products, state media said on Sunday.

The government has ordered a complete overhaul of the dairy industry after tainted milk powder killed at least four infants and sickened some 6,200 others.

Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday visited a hospital treating babies stricken by melamine-laced milk powder in the northern province of Hebei, where many of the cases of melamine-related illness were recorded.

Beijing - At least 43 people were killed and 88 injured in a nightclub fire in southern China that was apparently started by fireworks early Sunday, the government said.

Five of the injured were in serious condition after the fire broke out as hundreds of people were watching a performance at the Wu Wang nightclub in Shenzhen city, Guangdong province, the State Administration of Work Safety reported on its website.

Beijing - A sudden escape of gas and coal killed 37 at a mine in the central Chinese province of Henan on Sunday, one day after a fire killed at least 19 and left 12 missing at another coal mine, the government said.

The accident occurred at the privately operated Xinfeng No. 2 coal mine in Henan's Dengfeng city at about 1:30 am, the State Administration of Work Safety reported.

Rescue workers had confirmed the death of 31 miners by mid-morning and were searching for 13 others still missing underground, the administration said.

The official Xinhua news agency said 108 workers were underground, with 64 escaping and rescuers pulling out seven others.

Beijing - A sudden escape of gas and coal killed at least 31 people and left 13 missing at a mine in the central Chinese province of Henan on Sunday, the government said.

The accident occurred at the privately operated Xinfeng No. 2 coal mine in Henan's Dengfang city at about 1:30 am, the State Administration of Work Safety reported.

Rescue workers had confirmed the death of 31 miners by mid-morning and were searching for 13 others still missing underground, the administration said.