Beijing  - China has called for a cautious response from the United Nations Security Council over North Korea's rocket launch at the weekend.

"Concerning resolution 1718, the UN Security Council should act carefully," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Tuesday, referring to a resolution passed after North Korea's nuclear test in 2006.

Resolution 1718 demands that North Korea does "not conduct any further nuclear test or launch a ballistic missile."

Beijing  - The Chinese government announced a three-year action plan on health care reform on Tuesday, pledging improved facilities, universal access to basic insurance and the introduction of an essential drug system.

Admitting that health care services in rural areas lag behind those in the country's cities, the government has pledged to build 2000 new county-level hospitals which adhere to national standards, and to provide each village with a local clinic.

Hong Kong - Police in Hong Kong said Saturday they were investigating directors of a high-profile company for alleged fraud after a raid by commercial crime squad officers.

The offices of Citic Pacific, the Hong Kong-listed arm of China's biggest conglomerate, was raided Friday evening and searched for evidence of alleged fraud and false financial statements.

The company is accused of failing to disclose massive losses sustained through bets against foreign currency fluctuations in 2008.

Beijing - Tibetans are continuing small protests and a farming boycott in a closed area of south-western China known for its unrest and ethnic division, according to reports seen on Friday.

Police detained four Buddhist nuns and two other Tibetans in Sichuan province's Kardze (Ganzi) prefecture on Wednesday after they shouted slogans supporting the exiled Dalai Lama and calling for greater freedom, the pro-Tibetan independence website phayul. com reported.

New Delhi, Apr 3: China and the United States will resume military exchanges that were suspended last November.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday that President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart Barack Obama reached the agreement at their first meeting on Wednesday, one day before the G20 summit in London.

“Both sides share a commitment to military-to-military relations and will work for their continued improvement and development,” the White House said in a statement.

Beijing  - A German journalist was picked up by police Friday while talking to families of the victims of May's earthquake in the southern Chinese province of Sichuan and ordered out of the quake zone.

"I was instructed that I'm not allowed to be here," Henrik Bork, a correspondent for the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung, said by telephone from Yingxiu, which was destroyed by the May 12 quake.